Thousands in Indonesia Protest New Security Law : Asia: Bill enabling the armed forces to quell dissent sparks violent rallies. Opponents say they fear military will use measure as legal basis for a coup.

Thousands of Indonesian students took to the streets Thursday, throwing Molotov cocktails at police, clashing with soldiers and burning military vehicles after a bill was rammed through parliament giving the armed forces new powers during an emergency to quell dissent.

The violence, which continued into the morning today and injured as many as 300 here in the capital, opened a third rift in a fractured society that is already grappling with violence committed by anti-independence militias in East Timor and a bank corruption scandal that has reached the highest levels of government.

Student organizers said they fear that the controversial new state security law will give the military and its chief, Gen. Wiranto, the tools to stage a coup beneath a thin legal veneer.

Last year, weeks of student protests in Jakarta and elsewhere drove then-President Suharto from office in May, ending his 32-year rule and bringing President B.J. Habibie to power.

The bill, which updates a 1959 law, was passed earlier Thursday in an anonymous vote just days before Indonesia’s first democratically elected parliament in 40 years is due to convene.

“I don’t want this to be a military country,” said 21-year-old Arif Dai, his tired face streaked with toothpaste to ease the burn of the tear gas lobbed by police. “I just missed getting hit by a bullet. But we won’t stop until this country is democratic.”

Military leaders denied any dark motives behind the law.

“This bill is not for the army, the police, the government or the next assembly,” said Wiranto, dressed in a business suit rather than his uniform. “It’s aimed at protecting the whole country for the long term.”

On Thursday, an estimated 5,000 protesters turned out here. Thousands more rallied in Surabaya, the nation’s second-largest city. Smaller student protests also took place in Semarang, Yogyakarta and Ujungpandang.

Hundreds of students screamed in terror and fled into Jakarta’s Atma Jaya Catholic University on Thursday night as police headed down an embankment from an overpass, shooting tear gas and firing their rifles into the air. From below, their machine guns and shields reflected in the moonlight and the glare of a military bus burning nearby.

Back behind the university gates, young protesters--including Muslims and Catholics, Javanese and ethnic Chinese--sang “revolution, revolution until death,” the words punctuated by rhythmic clapping and the thump of a golf club banged against a ceiling.

The new “Prevention of Danger Law,” as the act is called, gives the president authority to declare a state of emergency in a province if requested by local leaders and the national parliament. Several areas other than East Timor have strong separatist movements.

The law allows the military to ban protests, ignore some regulations protecting human rights and take over telecommunications and mail services.

Analysts said the students’ violent reaction reflects growing concern that the military is consolidating its power, given Habibie’s perceived political weakness and the rise of nationalism. Many Indonesians have rallied around the flag after watching a multinational peacekeeping force replace their own troops this week in the violence-plagued territory of East Timor, whose voters last month opted for independence.

Habibie also faces accusations that an aide took funds from the nationalized Bank of Bali for the ruling Golkar party’s political war chest.

“There’s a great deal of ignorance over the law, but [students] sense that things are amiss,” said Adam Schwarz, author of “A Nation in Waiting” and a longtime Indonesia watcher. “They are concerned . . . that the military’s dominant political standing has strengthened recently.”

Student leaders met Thursday night to map out their next move. And while the student movement is relatively well organized, much will depend on how the military reacts during the next few days.

The students “will keep protesting, especially after what happened today,” predicted Alex Irwan, a former professor now working with a World Bank monitoring group here. “I think the demonstrations will get bigger.”

Police Lt. Col. Prasetya, who said he goes by only one name, said he hoped that wasn’t the case. “The people of Indonesia hope so too,” he added Thursday as he perched on a curb here after 11 hours on his feet.

While the government’s motives were a matter of debate, there seemed little doubt that the timing and secrecy surrounding the new law’s passage were terrible--particularly in light of the military’s role in abetting the violence in East Timor and its consequent battered reputation abroad.

“I don’t think [the military] will have the guts to use it when they have a crisis,” said Salim Said, a Jakarta-based military and political analyst. “It will only deepen their problems with the international community since it will certainly be considered a violation of human rights.”

At a makeshift university infirmary, 15 students lay on the floor, some unconscious from tear gas or police blows. Medical volunteer Irwan Setiawan estimated that there were 300 injured.

As the clashes continued early today, students taunted police and soldiers outside the university.

The security forces fired plastic bullets at a crowd of about 1,000 protesters, who hurled stones and Molotov cocktails.

“I don’t trust the military,” said Riana Permata, a 23-year-old economics student who was well back from the fray. “They were never protectors of the people.”

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Magnier, of The Times’ Tokyo Bureau, is on assignment in Indonesia.