Kapuspen Denies The News Of The TNI Bekingan Ivan Sugianto

Head of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Information Center (Kapuspen) Maj. Gen. Hariyanto denied reports that a middle-ranking TNI officer had a business relationship, let alone being a backer, a suspect in a bullying case in Surabaya, East Java, Ivan Sugianto.

Hariyanto explained that the middle-ranking TNI officer and Ivan Sugianto were ordinary friends, who took pictures in the same vehicle on September 18, 2024 or about a month before the bullying incident occurred on October 21.

"We have traced that, the viral incident of Ivan Sugianto is not related to the middle-ranking TNI officer in the photo in the vehicle," said Kapuspen, quoted from Antara, Saturday, November 16, 2024.

In the photo, which was widely circulated on social media, around Monday, November 11, 2024, a middle-ranking TNI officer with the rank of colonel took a photo with Ivan Sugianto. In the photo, he wears TNI official clothes.

Netizens Kooha asked who the colonel and papa headed in the car?

This is the answer

Perwira TNI ad merupakan kolonel moh sawi, beliau menjabat sebagai direktur pembinaan pendidikan (Dirbindik) pusat polisi militer (puspom) TNI. https://t.co/Y4qVnMovIW pic.twitter.com/3pln76a4Iw

Ivan Sugianto is a suspect in a case of bullying against a high school student in Surabaya. Ivan, known as a businessman and night entertainment boss in Surabaya, forced the victim to prostrate and scream like a dog. Ivan's action to bully high school students was recorded and the recordings went viral on social media.

The video footage also provoked public outrage, which later demanded that the police move to investigate the bullying case. Ivan had issued an apology he addressed to the victims, the families of the victims, schools, and the Indonesian people.

Despite the apology, the Surabaya Police on Thursday, November 14, 2024, arrested Ivan at Juanda Airport after he flew from Jakarta to return to Surabaya. At that time, the Surabaya Police had examined 11 witnesses and filed a case, both of which became the basis for the investigators' belief in naming Ivan as a suspect.

Ivan was then examined for approximately three hours by investigators, then he was detained at the Surabaya Police Detention Center (Rutan). The suspect in child bullying is threatened with being charged with multiple articles whose sentences can reach 3 years in prison.