Bogor police to release Juanda students today

BOGOR (JP): The police will release three Juanda University students this morning after detaining them for almost a month on charges of allegedly mobbing to death a senior officer.

Speaking on behalf of the Bogor Regional Police chief, deputy chief Lt. Col. Pranowo told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the students would be freed at 9 a.m. today on three conditions.

"First, they are not allowed to flee. Second, they are prohibited from damaging or throwing away any evidence they possess and, finally, they must answer future police summons as soon as possible whenever called to do so," Pranowo said.

He refused to explain further but repeated that their case would be brought to court despite their conditional release from police custody.

Pranowo did not indicate when the three students -- Emon Wahyudi, Tb. Ade and Syaifullah -- would stand trial over the death of Second Lt. Dadang, head of the Bogor City Police intelligence unit. Dadang was allegedly killed during a May 9 student demonstration on the Juanda University campus.

The news of the three students' release did not automatically appease their 600 colleagues staging a second day of protests in front of Pranowo's office over the arrests.

"We'll only stop holding this protest when we actually see our three friends released with our own eyes," said Agus Malik, chairman of the university's student union.

The students, who claim their friends are not guilty, also asked the police to restore the three students' reputation and take action against those who have tried to intimidate forensic expert Yuli Budiningsih.

Agus said he had been informed that Yuli, who performed the autopsy of the officer's body and publicly disclosed that Dadang died of a heart attack, had received mysterious calls lately trying to intimidate her and her family.

Yuli could not be reached for confirmation yesterday.

The police decision to release the students was apparently made after a meeting Wednesday between Bogor Regional Police chief Col. Abubakar Nataprawira and members of the National Commission on Human Rights, lawyers and representatives of the university.

After the meeting, Juanda University rector Abadi Soetisna urged the police to unconditionally free the students, saying he strongly believed that they were not guilty.

Abubakar said each of the three students would be charged for mobbing, torture and fighting against security officers, which carries a cumulative maximum penalty of between 32 months and 15 years in jail.

The police has accused the students of being involved in an alleged mobbing that led to the death of Dadang.

The accusations became controversial when Yuli publicly revealed her findings.

The three students have been reportedly tortured during their police interrogations. (24/bsr)