Ristu Hanafi, Sleman – The commemoration of International Labour Day or May Day in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta was marred by the torching of a police post located at the intersection in front of the Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University (UIN) on Jl. Laksda Adisutjipto, Sleman.

Earlier, several different student groups blockaded the road and set fire to tyres in the middle of the intersection in front of the UIN campus.

By around 3.50 pm hundreds of people had gathered, far outnumbering the police personnel present. The sound of expositions were heard several times and a nearby police post could be seen on fire.

“The [police] post was torched”, said a member of the traffic police at the rally on Tuesday May 1.

In speeches the demonstrators made a number of demands such as bringing down the price of fuel, increasing workers’ wages, revoking Presidential Regulation Number 20/2018 on Foreign Workers and rejecting the new Yogyakarta airport at Kulon Progo.

They also took up the issue of Sultan Ground and Pakualaman Ground – referring land claimed by the Yogyakarta royal families – and called for the annulment of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) allowing the TNI (Indonesian military) to assist the national police.

The demonstrators could be seen taking turns at giving speeches. They also brought a number of posters with messages slamming government policy and the hopes of students and workers along with the flags of several different student groups.

“The action has been going on since earlier at 3 am”, said a security guard who works at an office near the site of the demonstration. (bgs/bgs)

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Aksi May Day di Yogya, Massa Bakar Pos Polisi”.]

Source: https://news.detik.com/berita-jawa-tengah/d-3999694/aksi-may-day-di-yogya-massa-bakar-pos-polisi