Indonesia post-election protests leave six dead in Jakarta

BBC ^ | 7 hours ago | BBC

[Zhang Fei]

Six people have been killed and 200 injured during mass rallies in Jakarta against the re-election of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Indonesian police confirmed the death toll based on reports from hospitals. They said the cause of the deaths was being investigated.

The national police chief has denied his officers used live ammunition.

Police fired tear gas at protesters when clashes broke out again in the capital on Wednesday.

Protesters hurled fireworks and rocks at police during a stand-off near the election supervisory agency, while clashes also restarted in other areas of the city.

Social media has been restricted in some areas to stop rumours spreading.

The protests erupted after official election results showed Mr Widodo had beaten his long-time rival Prabowo Subianto at the polls last month.

How have the authorities responded?

National police chief Tito Karnavian said some of the six dead appeared to have gunshot wounds and others "blunt force wounds".

The authorities have said the protests were planned and "not spontaneous". They have suggested that a group of provocateurs may have been responsible for the violence.

"A majority of the protesters came from outside of Jakarta," said Muhammed Iqbal, a police spokesman.

President Widodo has promised firm action against rioters.

"I open myself to anyone to work together to build and develop this nation, but I won't tolerate anyone who tries to disrupt public security, the democratic process or the unity of our... country," the president said at a press briefing. How did the protests start?

Protests in the capital Jakarta began peacefully on Tuesday but soon turned violent, with cars set on fire and firecrackers thrown at police.

Police in riot gear fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

[Zhang Fei]

Given Indonesia's turbulent history (dramatized in The Year of Living Dangerously starring Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson), this has the prospect of devolving into a coup attempt or even civil war. An election victory margin of 10% should not be subject to question. But the defeated Islamist candidate is questioning it anyway. And the man is a former high-ranking general and son-in-law of the previous dictator, which may give him a great deal of influence over how many army people he can get on his side. Whereas the winning presidential candidate and incumbent is a civilian with no military background.

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[Lurkinanloomin]

Jakarta is where Barry got used to hearing “the prettiest sound on earth” from the minarets.

[dfwgator]

You think this isn’t coming soon to this country?

[Zhang Fei]

[You think this isn’t coming soon to this country?]

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If you’re referring to civil war, the GOP, the party of organized violence, because so many soldiers and cops are Republicans, isn’t gonna start this. And Democrats are too sissified to do so. They simply don’t have what it takes. Whereas Muslims in general, and Malays/Austronesians (who populate Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines) in particular, are pretty well-known for their berserker moments, to the point that the word amuck was adopted from their lingo.

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https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amuck
[an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects usually by a single individual following a period of brooding that has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malaysian culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior occurring worldwide in numerous countries and cultures]

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What we call a mass shooting, they’d probably shrug at as just another instance of someone gone amuck.