Chile sacks police official after student riots

SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's chief of police sacked the head of his special forces today amid rising public indignation over the unit's use of force after officers beat and tear gassed student demonstrators to quell a massive protest.

In what was seen as Chile's largest student demonstration in decades, nearly a million students were involved in marches in cities across the Andean nation yesterday to demand the government spend more on education.

Smaller protests continued today.

In the streets of the capital Santiago, students as young as 12 were met by police armed with tear gas and water cannons, a level of force viewed as excessive by many Chileans, who questioned the government's handling of the protests.

"I have ordered the removal of the prefect for special forces," Police Chief Jose Alejandro Bernales told reporters at the government palace today.

He said police found to have participated in excessive violence during the protests also would be sanctioned.

Images of police wrestling with young teenage protesters and beating media photographers to the ground were splashed across local newspapers today, eliciting statements of indignation from regular citizens, parents and from Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

"We have expressed our indignation against these acts where journalists, photographers and students suffered from excesses, abuse and unjustified violence," Bachelet said in a statement broadcast from the government palace.

Amnesty International Chile also expressed its concern for the level of police repression.

Bachelet, Chile's first woman president, was criticised by citizens for taking too long to sound off on the protests.

"Too passive, too passive," said Julian Gonzalez, a street vendor. "Everybody says she should have got involved earlier." "I don't think they realise this is a national issue," said Carolina Gutierrez, 26, a bank executive.

Student representatives and government negotiators were to meet tomorrow and Bachelet said she was confident of short-, medium- and long-term solutions to their demands, which she said were reasonable.

Hundreds of students demanding free bus fare, free college entrance exams, more teachers and improved secondary school buildings were arrested in the capital and across the nation in the protests that saw both civilians and police injured.

Protests began two weeks ago when students took over a few schools in the capital. But the movement spread quickly across the country, becoming the biggest street protests faced by Bachelet's government, which took power in March.

"Everybody was surprised by the strength of the student movement," said Fabian Pressacco, a political science professor at Alberto Hurtado University in Santiago.

"This was not easily foreseeable three weeks ago."

- REUTERS