Sumedang police question STPDN students over alleged separatism<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung<\/p>\n
West Java's Sumedang Police began questioning several students of
\nthe Institute of Public Administration (STPDN) on Monday for
\nallegedly backing activities of the separatist Maluku Sovereignty
\nFront (FKM).<\/p>\n
The students, all hailing from the troubled province of
\nMaluku, were quizzed as they were found wearing T-shirts bearing
\nsymbols of the separatist movement.<\/p>\n
Wahyu F. Sarpan and Toni Luhukay were among those who faced
\nquestioning by Sumedang Police detectives. Several other students
\nwould also be summoned but the police gave no number.<\/p>\n
The police also questioned Andi Asikin, a STPDN staffer, as a
\nwitness.<\/p>\n
Asikin reportedly said he saw the students wearing T-shirts
\nbearing the symbols of the FKM, a group founded by the South
\nMaluku Republic (RMS) separatist group in 2000. The FKM was
\nblamed for three days of renewed violence in Maluku on April 25,
\nwhich killed at least 41 people.<\/p>\n
The T-shirts in question were blue, white, green and red,
\nMollucas Adventure on the front.<\/p>\n
\"Mollucas is the term associated with RMS supporters,\"
\nSumedang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yoyok Subagyono told
\njournalists.<\/p>\n
He said the police had found only one T-shirt and would seize
\nat least 35 others from the students. According to a T-shirt
\nmaker, the 35 T-shirts had been sent to students at the STPDN
\ncampus in Jatinangor.<\/p>\n
T. Sinambela, a lawyer for Wahyu and Toni, denied that his
\nclients deliberately ordered the T-shirts in support for the RMS.<\/p>\n
\"It has nothing to do with separatism because they didn't know
\nthat their T-shirts bore symbols similar to the RMS,\" Sinambela
\nargued.<\/p>\n
Yoyok said the police could not determine whether Wahyu and
\nToni had been declared suspects or witnesses in the questioning
\nthat continued until Monday evening.<\/p>\n
\"We are investigating their motive for wearing the T-shirts.
\nIf everything is clear, we will decide whether it is just a
\ncommon crime or a subversion case,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The STPDN is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs and
\nall of its students are training to be civil servants.<\/p>\n
Many of its graduates have occupied strategic positions in
\ncentral and regional administrations.<\/p>\n
The institute is known for its military-style discipline. It
\nmade national headlines last October when video footage of
\nstudent violence was broadcast nationwide.<\/p>\n
Junior student Wahyu Hidayat died after being beaten by his
\nseniors.<\/p>\n
The Sumedang District Court on April 15 sentenced 10 students
\nto only seven to 10 months in prison over his death.<\/p>\n
However, the convicts remained free, -- although under city
\narrest -- because the court did not order the sentence to be
\ncarried out immediately.<\/p>\n
Wahyu was assaulted after failing to attend a ceremony to
\ncommemorate Independence Day last year in Bandung and a meeting
\nbetween STPDN students and West Java Governor Danny Setiawan.<\/p>\n
Wahyu's death drew national attention because he was not the
\nfirst victim of student brutality at the institute. Three years
\nago, student Erie Rakhman died after being beaten by senior
\nstudents.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sumedang-police-question-stpdn-students-over-alleged-separatism-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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