When Will Vina's Murder Case Be Completed After Peti Setiawan Free?

Supporters signed a support banner during the inaugural trial of Pegi Setiawan at the Bandung District Court, Bandung, West Java, Monday (24/6/2024). (ANTARA/Novrian Arbi/YU/aa)

JAKARTA Pegi Setiawan was declared free after the request for a pretrial hearing by his team of attorneys against the West Java Regional Police (Polda) was granted by the Bandung District Court (PN). Pegi's pretrial decision should be used as material for introspection, because with this case public trust in the police is shrinking.

Single Judge Eman Sulaeman in a verdict hearing at the Bandung District Court said that the determination of Sigi Setiawan as a suspect in the murder of Vina and Muhammad Rizky or Eki in 2016 by the West Java Regional Police was not in accordance with the procedures and was illegal according to applicable law.

"The trial granted the pretrial process of determining the applicant on behalf of Pegi Setiawan was declared invalid and canceled by law," said single judge Eman Sulaeman during a verdict hearing at the Bandung District Court, Monday (8/7/2024).

Thus, the judge ordered the respondent to stop the investigation of the applicant, as well as release the applicant and restore the dignity as before.

With the release of Pegi Setiawan, the performance of the National Police is increasingly doubtful by the public, according to police observers.

The murder incident of Vina and Eky, which occurred eight years ago in Cirebon, was again widely discussed. One of them is because the three perpetrators are still wanted by the police. The public echoed the pressure to arrest these three fugitives after the appearance of Vina: Before 7 Days.

The police admitted that they had difficulty arresting the three fugitives because there was no clear identity of the three. But then the police corrected that the fugitives were not three, but there was only one.

Long story short, Pegi Setiawan was arrested in Bandung on the evening of May 21. The Director of General Crimes at the West Java Regional Police, Kombes Surawan, said that Pegi worked as a construction worker in Bandung when he was arrested.

However, Pegi's arrest actually raises questions. The police were judged to have only acted quickly after pressure from the community flowed rapidly. On the other hand, Pegi insisted that he was not involved in the murder that shocked the public.

According to Pegi's attorney, Sugianti Irani, the determination of the suspect was considered odd because there was no court determination when the police searched and confiscated several pieces of evidence at Pegi's house in Cirebon on May 22, 2024.

And, after the Bandung District Court granted the pretrial lawsuit for Pegi, police observer from the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies Bambang Rukminto assessed that the performance of the police would be increasingly doubtful.

"This means that the public will further doubt the performance and work of police investigators in the future," said Bambang Rukminto, citing Kompas.

Bambang said, great authority without strict control and supervision as well as a transparent and accountable system has an impact on the occurrence of aabuse of power or abuse of authority in determining a person to be a suspect.

This happens because police investigators are unprofessional by ignoring standard operating procedures (SOP) and scientific crime investigation (SCI).

Unprofessional investigators, according to Bambang, have harmed many parties, including Pegi Setiawan. For this reason, he encouraged the National Police to audit the investigation process carried out by the West Java Police since the beginning of the case. In addition, he also asked the Police to conduct an examination of West Java Police investigators who made the arrest of Pegi.

"Immediately arrest the real mastermind behind the murder. Immediately impose sanctions on those involved and annull the promotion of those who made mistakes," he said.

Meanwhile, forensic psychologist Reza Indragiri Amriel emphasized that the problem of Vina's murder has not been completely resolved even though Pegi has been released. To VOI, Reza detailed a number of problems that needed to be resolved after the Bandung District Court decision.

First, witness Aep, who was deemed to have provided false information, was legally processed. According to Raza, Aep's statement is the most damaging to the disclosure of facts.

"The problem is, where did Aep's false consensus come from? From himself or from external influences? If it is from external parties, who is that party?" said Reza.

In addition, Reza said, with the now-free status of Pegi, it means breaking the narrative of the West Java Regional Police which confirms that Pegi Setiawan is a person who masterminds the premeditated murder with serious implications for the fate of the eight detained convicts.

"How can law enforcement authorities maintain the thesis that the eight convicts are legislators?" he said.

Are they really the perpetrators of premeditated murder, when the interaction between each convict (as the executor) and Pegi (as the commander) never existed? Reza added.

Furthermore, Reza highlighted the scientific work of the West Java Police which had been discussed limited to DNA, CCTV, and autopsy of the corpse. Reza said he continued to encourage examination of the West Java Police scientific investigation in 2016.

"I note that there is one thing that has never been picked up. Namely, electronic evidence in the form of detailed communication between parties on the night that Vina and Eky's bodies were found on the bridge in 2016," he said.

This also includes communication via gadgets that each victim does with known parties.

Who, with whom, about what, what time. Those are the things that should be shown in detail as evidence. Once again: who contacted who was related at what time, "said Reza ending.