Thursday, September 5, 2013

16 Medan Students on Trial

Latest developments in the arrested Medan students' case


The following is an interview by an FKMA reporter with a student from Medan, conducted on the 1st of September 2013 in Jakarta. The aim of the interview was to find out the latest developments in a case where police arrested students in an action protesting the fuel price rise in Medan last June, in a clear violation of human rights.

FKMA : What are the latest developments around these arrests which have affected Medan's student community?

Student : There are currently 16 students still in prison who were officially declared suspects on 16th August 2013. Many of them are still suffering from broken bones from the police violence during their arrests.

FKMA : Originally how many people were arrested?

Student : On the day of the action there were 87 people arrested. In the end only 16 of them were officially declared suspects. Nevertheless this is an act of criminalisation towards the whole student movement, and we are convinced it is an attempt to systematically paralyse the student movement here in Medan.