Indonesia to step up security in capital amid forthcoming demonstrations

The Indonesian police said Thursday that it will deploy around 8,700 personnel to monitor the forthcoming massive demonstrations scheduled for Friday and Dec. 2 in the capital city.

The police will be on full alert and have prepared for the worst.

The number of police to be deployed is far larger than that of in the previous demonstrations earlier this month.

Commander of the national police brigade Murad Ismail said those police personnel would come from units serving in police mobile brigade headquarters, Jakarta and several regions across the country.

There would be 50 companies of police personnel supplied by 21 provinces, making a total of 87 companies to be deployed in capital city for the upcoming demonstrations, Murad said in the national police headquarters here on Thursday.

Murad said that each company consists of 100 personnel.

Police personnel from the regions would be tasked to guard 39 locations in West, East and North Jakarta. The remaining personnel are assigned to guard the parliament building and the presidential palace, he added.

Murad said all the police personnel tasked to monitor the forthcoming demonstrations will not be armed with guns and rifles.

Muslim hardliner groups have vowed to stage more demonstrations, demanding detention of Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama over his blasphemous comments on the Koran made in September.

Those groups have planned to stage Friday prayers in two Jakarta's main streets located in business districts of Sudirman and Thamrin as part of their demonstrations. Endit