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Article: Crushed in Suharto's iron grip
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- December 16, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The young man in the bandanna, like everyone else in the
building, was highly excited. "Maybe they will attack," he said,
"it's difficult to tell. But we believe in God here, and God will
be our friend. I think everyone here is ready to die, they're ready
to give their last drop of blood."
This was the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI) in central Jakarta on the evening of 26 July. For the past
month it had been the scene of an event unprecedented in modern
Indonesia: a large-scale, pro-democracy demonstration, a peaceful,
but thinly veiled, challenge to the 30-year rule of President
Suharto.
The walls of the red-tiled bungalow were festooned with banners
bearing slogans ...