21 STPDN students to go on trial

21 STPDN students to go on trial

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

After a one-month investigation, Sumedang Police have completed three dossiers on violent incidents at the Public Administration Institute (STPDN).

The dossiers, including one on the death of student Wahyu Hidayat, was handed over on Tuesday by the Sumedang Police to the Sumedang Prosecutor's Office.

Twenty-one students have been named suspects in the dossiers.

"We will read and check the dossiers and the evidence, and will then be ready for court," said Agus Suratno, the head of the prosecutor's office.

He said the three dossiers were all on violence committed by STPDN seniors against junior students.

One dossier is on the violence leading to Wahyu Hidayat's death, while the other two are on violence against STPDN students Jurinata from South Kalimantan and Muhana from Karawang, West Java. All three incidents occurred earlier this year.

Of the 21 students named in the dossiers, 10 are suspects in the death of Wahyu Hidayat in August, eight for alleged involvement in violence against Muhana in March and three others for the alleged abuse of Jurinata in May.

The chief prosecutor said all the suspects had been transferred to the Sumedang penitentiary from the Sumedang Police detention cells, after the dossiers were handed over on Tuesday.

Suratno said all the suspects would be charged with assault, for which the maximum punishment is five years in prison.

The death of Wahyu Hidayat made headlines as it was not the first incident of its kind at the institute, which is located in Sumedang regency, West Java.

Three years ago, Erie Rakhman died after also being beaten by older students. Seven students were charged in the death of Erie and were handed prison sentences by the Sumedang District Court.

The investigation into the death of Wahyu revealed the culture of violence deeply rooted in the institute, which is expected to produce future bureaucrats.

The investigation and wide media coverage of the case also gave others at the STPDN a chance to reveal other cases of violence, including the abuse of Muhana and Jurinata.

In a separate development, an official with the institute's Research and Development Center Sadu Wasistiono said the center had polled people on whether the STPDN should be closed down.

Those polled were regents, mayors and governors from across Indonesia, for whom STPDN graduates would eventually work.

The center distributed polling forms to 440 people in late September but so far has received feed back from only 84 respondents.

Of the 84 respondents, only three considered the STPDN a useless institution, namely the Yogyakarta provincial administration, Gowa regency administration and one regency administration in East Nusa Tenggara, said Sadu. "It shows that STPDN graduates are still needed," he said.

Sadu said the poll results would be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs.