Students charged with killing officer freed

BOGOR (JP): The police released three Juanda University students on Thursday night, hours ahead of schedule, after detaining them for almost a month on charges of killing a senior police officer.

Bogor Police chief Lt. Col. M. Ruslan Riza said the release, originally scheduled for 9 a.m. yesterday, was conducted at 11 p.m. Thursday for security reasons.

"We wanted to avoid the possibility of massive demonstrations by students to welcome their friends' release. We feared it would cause traffic jams and other trouble," Ruslan said.

He said the three students -- Tb. Ade, Emon Wahyudi, Syaifullah -- were fetched by Juanda University rector Abadi Soetisna and one of his deputies, Amin Soebianto.

Abadi said yesterday that the police chief telephoned him that night and invited him to discuss the release.

"As I was not prepared, I asked Amin to accompany me to the police station," he said.

The three students were freed apparently in response to mounting pressure by fellow students who claim the three are not guilty.

The students also demanded that the police restore the three students' reputations and take action against those trying to intimidate forensic expert Yuli Budiningsih, who performed the autopsy of the officer's body and publicly disclosed that Dadang died of a heart attack.

Tb. Ade told a news conference at the university campus in Ciawi, Bogor, yesterday that Emon was the first student to be arrested at 11:30 p.m on May 9, the day Second Lt. Dadang Rusmana was found dead.

He said Emon was forced to admit that he mobbed Dadang and to name his friends involved in the attack. "Emon mentioned five names, including mine," he added.

Ade said he was later arrested in his house in Bogor, while Syaifullah in his residence in Lampung, South Sumatra, both on May 11.

"We were intimidated and while in police detention were forced to admit to the mobbing," he said.

The three students, however, resisted the alleged intimidation.

Their lawyer, Apong Herlina of the Jakarta Legal Institute, said earlier that the students were beaten and threatened at gunpoint to admit to the crime.

"Emon was paralyzed when my colleagues visited him in detention," Apong said. The paralysis was temporary.

National Commission on Human Rights member Clementino dos Reis Amaral, who visited the students in detention, also confirmed that the students had been tortured.

Apong said she and other lawyers of the institute would soon file suit against the police over the students' illegal arrest and detention. The institute claims the students were arrested without sufficient preliminary evidence.

"The police actually knew Dadang's death was caused by a heart attack, but they proceeded to arrest the students," she told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

She also urged the Bogor Prosecutor's Office to reject the police dossier since it was compiled while the students were being tortured and without the presence of a lawyer.

Another lawyer, Muhyar Nugraha, asked the police to stop the investigation. "It's better for the police to stop the investigation and drop the case."

The police have not yet submitted the dossier to the prosecutor's office due to administrative reasons, Bogor Regional Police deputy chief Lt. Pranowo said.

The release of the three students was welcomed joyously by friends and relatives. (24jun)