Three STPDN students get five months in jail

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung, West Java

The Sumedang District Court handed down on Monday a verdict on three Institute of Public Administration (STPDN) students, who were charged with assaulting a younger student named Jurinata in 2001.

Lorent Oktoberi Tahan, 23, San Grito, 23, and Hendrik, 23, all from Central Kalimantan province, were sentenced to five months in prison.

The students were the second group of STPDN students to be sentenced after 10 STPDN students received suspended jail terms last year for assaulting younger students.

During Monday's hearing, presiding judge Parlis Nababan said the three students, who were in year three in May 2001 when the assault occurred, were guilty of assaulting Jurinata, who was a year two student at the time.

The sentence was three months less than that demanded by the prosecution.

The three students will spend only seven more days in Sumedang Penitentiary because they have been detained in the penitentiary since Sept. 23 last year.

Judge Parlis said the assault happened on May 12, 2001 after Jurinata saw the three drinking alcohol when passing by their room.

They saw Jurinata and quickly summoned him. After asking Jurinata a few questions, they started to beat and kick him, leaving him badly injured.

Jurinata was hospitalized for months due to a head injury and broken ribs.

Jurinata reported the assault late last year, after the death of fellow STPDN student Wahyu Hidayat.

Jurinata was absent when the presiding judge read out the verdict. However, his lawyer Sonita Wasita accepted the verdict, saying that the three were also victims of the harsh STPDN education system.

Ten STPDN students were handed suspended sentences in October last year for assaulting junior students during initiation for the marching band.

The incident occurred in June last year, but it did not make the headlines until October, when SCTV television station broadcast video footage of the violence.

The Sumedang District court is trying another group of STPDN students charged with causing the death of Wahyu Hidayat, a year two student.

Wahyu died in September last year after being beaten by 20 seniors at the institute, which has a reputation for imposing military-style discipline on its students.

Wahyu was assaulted after failing to attend a ceremony to commemorate Independence Day last year in Bandung and a meeting between STPDN students and West Java Governor Danny Setiawan.

Wahyu's death drew national attention because he was not the first victim of student brutality at the institute. Three years ago, student Erie Rakhman died after being beaten by seniors. Seven students were charged in the death of Erie and were sent to prison by the Sumedang District Court.