STPDN students lied to investigators: Police<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Bandung\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police investigating the death of a Public Administration
\nInstitute (STPDN) student said they would rework the dossiers of
\nkey suspects due to suspicions that most witnesses had lied.<\/p>\n
Sumedang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yoyok Subagyono said the
\npolice had questioned 50 second year students, who all admitted
\ntaking part in the violence against Wahyu Hidayat last week,
\nwhile investigators believe they were not all involved.<\/p>\n
\"In fact the police findings indicate that Wahyu was strangled
\nto death by a small group of people. They (the students) seemed
\nto have made an agreement on what would be said to the police,\"
\nYoyok told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
An autopsy performed on Wahyu revealed that the 20-year-old
\nstudent died of strangulation.<\/p>\n
Yoyok said the police also had a hard time establishing what
\nhad actually happened the night Wahyu died, as each one of the
\nwitnesses gave a different account.<\/p>\n
\"They seemed to be afraid of something and did not have the
\ncourage to tell the truth,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Yoyok said that there was apparently a strong feeling of
\nfellowship among STPDN students that prevented police from
\ndigging for more substantial information pertaining to Wahyu's
\ndeath.<\/p>\n
Wahyu, a second year student, died after he was allegedly
\nbeaten up by his seniors for failing to turn up for a flag-
\nhoisting ceremony in observance of Independence Day on Aug. 17.<\/p>\n
An STPDN student said the senior students beat Wahyu to teach
\nhim a \"lesson\" in loyalty.<\/p>\n
Another student said Wahyu was \"punished\" for being absent in
\na meeting with the West Java governor, a forum where students
\nfrom the province would ask the governor for Rp 5 million
\n(US$595) in allowances.<\/p>\n
Three students -- Yayan Sofyan, Dadang Hadi Surya and Hendi
\nSetiadi -- have been expelled and named suspects in connection
\nwith the death.<\/p>\n
Psychological tests conducted on 806 students last year
\nrevealed that the military-style discipline imposed on them had
\nresulted in alarming aggressiveness and a tendency toward being
\nhypersexual.<\/p>\n
A parent of one of the students said it was common for his son
\nto return home on the weekend covered with bruises. The
\ninstitute's internal regulations, however, forbids any physical
\npunishment, according to Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno.<\/p>\n
The home ministry, which supervises the institute, has decided
\nto revise the military-styled curriculum following the death of
\nWahyu.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Hari said the government was evaluating the
\nperformance of the STPDN director that may lead to his dismissal.<\/p>\n
Hari told members of the House of Representatives Commission
\nII on legal affairs on Tuesday his ministry's inspectorate
\ngeneral was currently assessing the director's performance.<\/p>\n
\"The assessment will determine whether he should be
\npenalized,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the government was also considering merging two
\ncolleges under his ministry, the West Java-based STPDN and the
\nJakarta-based Public Administration Institute (IIP), saying that
\nthe ministry was overburdened in running the two institutions.<\/p>\n
\"We only need to have one public administration institute.
\nThere has been a policy on that,\" the minister said without
\nelaborating.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stpdn-students-lied-to-investigators-police-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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