Office boy blamed for exam paper leak

Office boy blamed for exam paper leak

JAKARTA (JP): Two witnesses have denied any involvement in the
leaking of examination papers and attempted to shift the blame on
to the defendant, an office boy with the Directorate General of
Elementary and Secondary Education (Dikdasmen).

"It was not my fault. Yes, I did hold the key, but the key was
not in my hands from March 30 until April 25 this year," Purwoto
told a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court, presided
over by Judge M. Daning Sunusi.

"Dwi (Dwi Santoso) had told me that the ceiling in the
conference room was leaking and that he needed to fix it. So, I
lent him the key. Never in my life did I guess that he would
steal the exam papers and make copies of them."

Purwoto was responsible for the safekeeping of the key to the
conference room on the building's fifth floor, where the master
copies of the examinations' papers were kept in a safe.

The three-day examinations for high school students were held
from May 22 until May 24.

Being accused by prosecutor So'imah of violating Article 362
of the Criminal Code on stealing and Article 322 on deliberately
revealing confidential information gained by virtue of one's
employment, Dwi told Monday's hearing that what Purwoto said was
lies.

"He's lying. I found the key hanging on the door of the
conference room... I entered to clean the room. Nothing else,"
Dwi said.

Article 362 carries a maximum punishment of five years in
jail, while Article 322 carries a maximum punishment of nine
months in jail.

Earlier, exam leaks in West Jakarta were found at the
following state high schools: SMU Negeri 2, SMU Negeri 55
Durentiga, SMU Negeri 19, SMU Negeri 38, and SMU Negeri 101.

Leaks were also found at SMU Negeri 71 and SMU Negeri 100 in
East Jakarta, Sumbangsih private high school and Al Azhar Islamic
high school in South Jakarta.

In West Java, leaks were found in at least four high schools,
namely SMU Negeri 2, SMU Negeri 4, SMU Negeri 5, and SMU Negeri 7
in Tangerang.

Dwi won praise from witness Sri Yudiani, subdivision head of
systems and procedures at Dikdasmen, who said that Dwi was a
"kind worker" and never gave her problems during the three years
he had worked at Dikdasmen.

However, Sri defiantly argued with Judges Daning and I Ketut
Gede stating that Dwi's wrongdoing was not her concern, as he was
accountable to her superior (Purwoto) and not her.

"He may have worked under my supervision, but he reported to
my boss," she repeatedly said, stating her boss's name as Bambang
Suranto.

So'imah had earlier said that on March 30 this year, the
defendant had taken the master copies of examination papers in
economic studies, sociology, mathematics, physics, chemistry and
biology.

"He made copies of them, distributed those copies to students
of South Jakarta state high schools, and then placed the original
copies back in the safe in the conference room of Dikdasmen," she
said.

Earlier, chairman of the Jakarta Examinations Committee,
Sulaeman Hariadi, said that in order to prevent leaks during the
national junior high school examinations from June 5 to June 7,
the Jakarta office of the National Education Ministry had
conducted tighter supervision of the students, including the
conducting of body searches. (ylt)