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I waited in the capital, Banda Acheh, after hearing that President Megawati would visit Acheh around August 20th. Yet, it was aired that the President’s visit would be postponed due to lack of safety. Her visit was rescheduled to September 7th, and I headed back to the capital, cutting short my report in the northern area.
My friend who works as a volunteer at a refugee camp told me that there will be a demonstration by a group of females on the day of the President’s arrival. When I went to the office on the morning of September 7th, there were about 15 women holding signs in their hands preparing to demonstrate. They all had their mouth covered with a cloth. “ This means ‘There is no freedom of speech’. We actually have no freedom.” explained a student.
The demonstration began past eleven o’clock. There were not much people on the street. “Protect women’s rights!” “ TNI, go back to Jawa Island now!”
After about 15 minutes, two cars suddenly stopped to block the demonstrators’ proceeding and a few police officers in civilian clothes got out of Toyota Vans. One of the officers tried to take away the camera from a student who was taking photos. Since she resisted, he kicked her stomach and face.
At the same time, President Megawati was making a speech at a large mosque in the center city. A few minutes later, two students hooted at her that the President Megawati was severely disturbed by this and immediately left for Jakarta in the middle of her speech. |
