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.