Students charged with killing officer freed

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)