Repdem Volunteers Report Sexual Harassment Cases At SPI SMA Malang To The PDIP Faction In The DPR

Chairman of the DPN Volunteers for the Democratic Struggle (Redpem), Irfan Fahmi, in the PDIP Faction Room of the DPR/VOI

JAKARTA - Volunteers for Democracy Fighters (Repdem) visited the PDIP Fraction of the DPR RI to report an alleged criminal act of sexual harassment that occurred at the Indonesian Good Morning School (SPI), Batu City, Malang, East Java.

It is known, a man with the initials JEP (49) who is the founder of SMA SPI, is suspected of being the perpetrator. The victims were 15 female students at the school. This alleged sexual harassment case was reported by one of the victims to the East Java Police on May 29, 2021. JEP was also named a suspect on August 5, 2021.

The JEP suspect was threatened with Article 81 Junto 76 or Article 82 or Article 76 of Law Number 16 of 2017 concerning the stipulation of a government regulation in lieu of Law Number 1 of 2016 concerning the second amendment to Law Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection, juncto Article 64 of the Criminal Code. Initially the minimum sentence was 3 years, now it has been changed to a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 15 years.

However, the Repdem assessed that law enforcement officers, both investigators and public prosecutors, were not serious enough to handle the criminal case. This can be seen in the absence of arrests and bans against JEP suspects. "Even though the alleged articles have met the objective elements to be subject to detention. Meanwhile, the subjective elements have also been met for detention," said the Chairperson of the DPN Volunteers for the Democratic Struggle (Redpem), Irfan Fahmi, in the PDIP Fraction Room of the DPR, Wednesday, December 22. The Repdem is worried that the JEP suspect will repeat the crime or destroy evidence. Because, JEP as the founder of SIP still has access to enter the crime scene (TKP) in the SIP environment. In addition, students who are still in the SIP High School environment are vulnerable to being the following victims of the suspect.

Irfan said that currently the criminal case file with the suspect JEP had returned to the authority of the East Java High Prosecutor's Office. Previously, the case files were re-transferred by East Java Police investigators on December 6, 2021. "Repdem hopes that the East Java High Prosecutor's Office will immediately transfer the file to the competent District Court, accompanied by the detention of the JEP suspect," said Irfan. Meanwhile, continued Irfan, SMA SIP as an educational institution that implements a "boarding school" model of education needs serious attention from state agencies. Mainly, those who are authorized to carry out supervision and guidance. In this case, the Ministry of Education and Culture to investigate and evaluate the teaching and learning activities (KBM) implemented in SMA SIP. "So that the KBM model applied can provide child protection, and avoid sexual and economic exploitation of students. Moreover, Repdem received information that students attend SPI SMA for free on condition that they come from economically disadvantaged communities," explained Irfan. Irfan said Repdem appreciates every member of the community as well as non-profit legal entities who take the initiative to provide free education to underprivileged residents. However, he said, the state also needs to monitor closely so that the implementation of free educational activities is not accompanied by the practice of economic exploitation, let alone sexual.

"To Commission III of the DPR RI, through the PDI-P faction, the Repdem requested that the DPR RI pay special attention to the handling of this SPI case. Because there is the potential for non-legal aspects that can make the handling of sexual harassment cases at SPI High School not run according to the provisions applicable law," said Irfan.

As for the Repdem's stance in this hearing, he appealed to the PDIP Faction through Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives to summon the East Java Police Chief and the East Java High Prosecutor's Office to explain the progress of the investigation into the Indonesian Good Morning School (SPI) case. Second, the Repdem asked law enforcement officers to apply coercive measures by detaining JEP suspects so that there are no fears of repeating the same criminal incident. "Third, the Repdem hopes that competent state institutions in the field of education will immediately evaluate and supervise the teaching and learning activity system at the Selamat Pagi Indonesia High School, and even take other actions deemed necessary to ensure protection from the threat of economic and sexual exploitation," he said. Irfan. Responding to the Repdem report, the chairman of the PDIP faction of the DPR RI, Utut Adianto, stated that his party would escort this case to court to completion. "PDIP wants justice to be served. This will hopefully be the last case," said Utut.