Riot police officers stand guard on a baricade during a protest following the announcement of the election result on Wednesday May 22, 2019. Photo courtesy of Antara
JAKARTA, May 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) – At least Six people were killed in Jakarta capital of Indonesia on Wednesday when police clashed with rock-throwing protesters angry over the election loss of opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.
“As of 9 am (0200 GMT), six fatalities have been recorded,” Jakarta’s Governor Anies Basweden was quoted as saying by the Detik.com news portal. Another 200 people were injured.
Police could not be immediately reached for comment, but had earlier said security personnel were not equipped with live bullets.
Protestors accusing the government of incumbent President Joko Widodo of electoral fraud to secure of his re-election had gathered since Tuesday in front of the Election Supervisory Agency in the Indonesian capital.
Police ordered the crowd to disperse late Tuesday but they responded by throwing fire crackers and rocks, forcing officers to use tear gas and water cannon, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.
Rioters set fire to a police apartment building and cars, he said.
Dedi said 20 people were arrested for allegedly inciting the crowd to attack security personnel.
“We have warned the public from the beginning that there are people who want to take advantage of the protests to create troubles,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the electoral commission announced that Joko had won the April 17 election with 55.5 per cent of the vote, against 44.5 per cent for Prabowo.
Prabowo immediately rejected the results, accusing the government of rigging the election and saying his campaign had evidence of widespread cheating.
He said Tuesday he would launch a legal challenge to the result and urged supporters to remain calm.
The official results had been scheduled to be released Wednesday, but were moved forward after Prabowo’s supporters threatened to hold a massive rally in front of the electoral commission’s building in central Jakarta.
