JP/7/Unpad

JP/7/Unpad

Yuli Trisuwarni
The Jakarta Post
Bandung, West Java

Student dismissed over pornographic VCD

A female student of the state University of Padjadjaran in
Bandung, West Java, has been dismissed from the university over a
pornographic VCD of her, copies of which are circulating widely
in the city.

Hadi Suprapto Arifin, a member of the ethics commission of the
University's communications faculty who handled the case, said
the student had been dismissed after the ethics commission gave a
recommendation to the rector for her removal on Oct. 3.

"We decided to dismiss her after holding a meeting to view
several extracts from cropped photos reproduced from the VCD. The
woman in the photos is indeed our student and based on our data,
she was admitted in 2000," he told reporters here on Friday.

Hadi said the student, identified as Nn, had met Suganda
Priyatna, dean of the faculty, to provide clarification on the
case.

"During the clarification, she admitted her wrongdoing and the
admission has been adequate evidence for us to fire her because
the case will certainly have a negative impact on the
university's image unless tough measures are taken," he said.

Based on the ethic commission's investigation, copies of the
VCD have been traded not only in shopping malls but also among
students at the university since last August, at a price of Rp
5,000 per copy.

According to Nn's fellow students, the VCD was originally
designed for self-consumption and contained depictions of her
sexual encounters with her fiance as they marked their 23-month
relationships in a hotel in Bali. They suspect the VCD might have
been copied without their permission when Nn's fiance, identified
as AH, asked his friend to transfer the footage from a handycam
cassette to a VCD. AH's friend then allegedly made multiple
copies to sell to other students.

AH had earlier been dismissed from a private university for
his poor attendance record.