Suspects in latest STPDN violence freed
Suspects in latest STPDN violence freed
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Police released on Wednesday two students who were officially
named suspects in the latest bullying incident at the Institute
of Public Administration (STPDN) in Sumedang, West Java.
Both suspects, Nurmansyah Putra, 21, and Imam Suhaeri, 21,
were only ordered to report to Jatinangor Police, some 20
kilometers from their campus, once a day.
Sumedang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yoyok Subagiyono said the
suspension of their detention was to allow the suspects to take
part in a semester examination at the school.
However, Yoyok did not say if the two second-year students,
from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, would be detained again or not
after the examination.
Nurmansyah and Imam had been held for two days since Monday
for intensive interrogation on charges of bullying younger
student Ichsan Suheri, 19, on Oct. 16, on campus.
"The two suspects have confessed to beating the victim and
ordering him to lift up a 38-kilogram barbell with one hand. As
he was too weak to hold the weight up, the barbell fell on his
head," Yoyok said.
Yoyok said the suspects claimed they ordered Ichsan to carry
the 38-kilogram barbell merely for fun, with no intention of
training him.
Based on statements by 60 Acehnese colleagues, the police
concluded that the incident was not a "collective crime" as it
was only perpetrated by the two senior students, he said.
Doctors, who treated Ichsan at the Al-Islam hospital in
Bandung, said the violence caused Ichsan to suffer psychological
trauma and needed a two-month counseling session to recover.
His father, Hanafiah who is the West Langsa district military
chief in Aceh, took Ichsan home to Aceh for counseling on
Tuesday.
Yoyok said Nurmansyah and Imam could face a maximum of one-
year jail term for violating Article 352 of the Criminal Code on
minor bullying and Article 335 on offensive act.
The bullying was the latest violence to rock the STPDN known
for its reputation to impose military-style discipline on its
students.
Last year, the institute which is run by the Ministry of Home
Affairs, made headlines after a national private television aired
footage of brutality on the campus after the death of Wahyu
Hidayat, 20, who was beaten by a group of 20 seniors.
More than 10 students were jailed over the incident. Three
years ago, another student Erie Rakhman died after being beaten
by seniors.
STPDN head I Nyoman Sumaryadi said the school was collecting
information to prepare academic punishment for both Nurmansyah
and Imam charged with the latest incident.
Citing an instruction on student relationships at STPDN issued
by the home affairs minister in 2003, those involved in fatal
violence must be expelled from the institute.
But students found guilty of a minor crime would only get
their scores reduced or ranks lowered, he said.
However, it was not clear why Yayan Sofiyan, 20, Dadang
Hadisurya, 21, and Hendi Setiyadi, 21 -- all discharged from
school in September 2003 over the death of Wahyu, were allowed to
resume studies there.
Atong Effendi, 62, the father of Erie, once sued the STPDN for
reaccepting seven students who had been expelled from the school
over the death of his son.