Protesters clash with police in Thamrin, Jakarta, Indonesia, early May 22, 2019. — Antara Foto/Muhammad Adimaja via Reuters
JAKARTA, May 22 — Six people have died and 200 injured in civil unrest in the Indonesian capital, its governor, Anies Baswedan, said today after the election commission confirmed President Joko Widodo had won last month's election.
“As per 9 o'clock this morning, there were 200 people hurt being brought to five hospitals,” the governor told broadcaster TVOne.
“The number of people dead was six,” he said, adding that hospitals were conducting post mortems to determine the cause of death.
Indonesian police have arrested at least 20 people accused of provoking riots in Jakarta following official election results, a police spokesman said today.
Television footage today showed smoke billowing from behind dozens of protesters who were dancing in the street in the Tanah Abang district of central Jakarta.
A separate crowd in front of the election supervisory body threw rocks at police, a Reuters witness said.
The General Election Commission (KPU) yesterday confirmed unofficial counts by private pollsters in the April 17 election, which gave Widodo a 55.5 per cent share of votes against 44.5 per cent for his opponent, former general Prabowo Subianto.
Widodo won more than 85 million votes of a total of 154 million cast in the world's third-largest democracy, but Prabowo told reporters he believed there had been widespread cheating and about 1,000 supporters gathered in Jakarta a day earlier.
On Monday, an election supervisory agency dismissed claims of systematic cheating, citing a lack of evidence. Independent observers have said the poll was free and fair.
Protests that started peacefully yesterday turned violent in the evening, forcing police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd. Cars parked near an apartment housing the police's mobile brigade were set ablaze, media reported.
“As of now, police have arrested more than 20 people we thought were the provocateurs and who did other crimes,” said police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo.
Prasetyo said police were checking on reports of casualties, but stressed that security officers on the ground, which include military personnel, were not equipped with live bullets.
News website Tirto reported a man died of bullet wounds in Tanah Abang, quoting a doctor at a hospital near the site.
Indonesian authorities have said 40,000 police and army personnel were on duty across Jakarta in a bid to maintain security. — Reuters
