‘Deadly’ Indonesia protests leave 20 missing

Jakarta (AFP) — At least 20 people are missing after violent Indonesia protests sparked by lavish perks for lawmakers that have widened to include anger against police, a rights group said Tuesday.

At least six people have been killed since protests rocked Southeast Asia’s biggest economy last week, intensified by footage spreading of the killing of a young delivery driver by a paramilitary police unit.

“As of September 1, there were 23 reports of missing persons. After the search and verification process, 20 missing persons remain unfound,” the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) said in a statement.

The group said the 20 were reported missing in the cities of Bandung and Depok on Java island, and the administrative cities of Central Jakarta, East Jakarta and North Jakarta that make up the wider capital city.

One incident took place in an “unknown location,” it said.

The National Police did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Police have arrested 1,240 people in Jakarta since August 25, the city’s Metropolitan Police Inspector General Asep Edi Suheri told reporters Monday, state news agency Antara reported.

On Tuesday Jakarta police spokesperson Ade Ary Syam Indradi said officers arrested activist Delpedro Marhaen, the director of NGO Lokataru Foundation, which also confirmed the arrest.

He was held “on suspicion of making provocative incitement to commit anarchic actions,” Ade said in comments aired by broadcaster Kompas TV.

The unrest emerged in cities across the country last week, forcing President Prabowo Subianto into a U-turn on lawmaker perks.

They were the worst protests since the ex-general took power last year.