Students Arrested In Graduation Brawls

Police arrested 117 students for brawling during high school graduation celebrations, seizing weapons including knives, two machetes and two samurai swords.

Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said students stoned police who tried to stop the melee, the official Antara news agency reported Tuesday.

“They were disturbing the peace and we confiscated sharp weapons from them,” Aritonang said.

Witnesses said the brawls broke out when hundreds of students gathered in front of their Jakarta schools to celebrate graduation by spray-painting their clothes and hair and sitting on top of their cars.