3 Killed as Protests in Indonesia Spread Beyond Jakarta

Asia Pacific|3 Killed as Protests in Indonesia Spread Beyond Jakarta

Three more people were killed on Friday in Indonesia as isolated protests spread across the country into a broader rebuke of President Prabowo Subianto and his policies.

The three people were government workers who died after trying to escape a building that protesters had set on fire, M. Fadli Tahar, acting head of the Makassar Regional Disaster Management Agency, said on Saturday. They had jumped from the third floor of the burning building, he said.

Dozens of cars and motorcycles were damaged in the protests. Photos and videos posted on social media by the All-Indonesia Students’ Union, which organized the protests, showed buses and motorcycles set on fire.

Protest organizers had yet to announce whether there were would be more demonstrations on Saturday.

The protests, which started on Monday in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, have quickly spread across the country, becoming a test for Mr. Prabowo, who took office in October to lead the nation of 284 million people. On Thursday night, a police vehicle trying to disperse protesters struck and killed Affan Kurniawan, a 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver who was his family’s breadwinner. Officials have ordered an investigation into his death, and Mr. Prabowo visited his family on Friday and offered support, according to Ahmad Riza Patria, a government minister.

The protesters have called for an end to housing allowances for lawmakers, which they see as lavish in the midst of Indonesia’s economic troubles. Consumer prices are rising quickly and the unemployment rate is on track to be the highest in Southeast Asia this year, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

By Friday, the demonstrations had spread to at least half a dozen cities, with some growing violent. In Jakarta, police officers in riot gear fired tear gas and the navy marine corps deployed troops to help secure the protests.