UI students sue rector over suspensions
UI students sue rector over suspensions
JAKARTA (JP): Six University of Indonesia students who were
suspended for staging a rally protesting against additional
college fees, filed a lawsuit at the Jakarta State Administrative
Court (PTUN) against the University's rector on Thursday.
Speaking at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), one of the
students, Dhoho A. Sastro, said the suit was filed to demand the
revocation of the rector's decision No. 266/2000 concerning their
suspension.
"We are also demanding damages of Rp 5 million (US$526). If we
win, the award will be donated to students who need
scholarships," said Dhoho, a student in the university's law
school who was suspended for one year by the university.
Dhoho claimed that the lawsuit was filed as the university had
rejected the students' attempts to initiate a dialog over the
suspensions.
He said the university had demanded that the students
apologize for staging the rally in February if they wanted their
suspensions to be lifted.
"We refuse to apologize for holding a rally. It's our right,"
he said, adding that the lawsuit was aimed at teaching a lesson
to the public, especially, students, that they could fight
against authoritarian actions.
He said the suspensions, which were handed down in November
and were signed by Asman Budi Santoso, were based on the
university's 1996 internal regulations.
Dhoho charged that the regulations were drawn up during the
New Order era which tried to stifle student protests.
The students were suspended for between one and two semesters
for protesting against the university's decision to levy an extra
educational fee under the Quality of Education Improvement Fund.
Beginning in 1999, students enrolled at the university must
pay an extra fee on top of the Rp 500,000 (US$52) tuition fee
paid each semester.
The extra fee is Rp 1 million for students of the School of
Engineering and the School of Mathematics and Exact Sciences, and
Rp 750,000 for students of the School of Social Sciences.
LBH's assistant director Surya Tjandra described the
suspensions as being an uneducative way of punishing the
students.
"It's too much since the students, whose duty it is to study,
should be allowed to continue with their studies," Surya said,
adding that the students could be forced to drop out of the
university if their suspensions were not lifted.
He further accused the university's rector, as a government
official in charge of an educational institution, of having
violated the principles of good governance as set out in Law No.
5/1986 on the Administrative Court. (jun)