Teacher's Regret, Suspected Students Drifting In The Sempor River

Illustration of drowning (unsplash)

JAKARTA - The death of 10 students of SMPN 1 Turi who were swept away by the Sempor River while participating in a long tail scouting activity. The three teachers who are also student scout coaches are now in prison.

It's just that, the treatment of these suspects has received harsh criticism. The reason is that the three teachers were stripped like criminals.

"We criticize the police's treatment of teachers. As if they are chicken thieves who have to be shaved and so on. Those who are corrupt in the trillions are not shaved. It's a pity that teachers have not yet been shaved," wrote the PGRI Executive Board account via Twitter.

The denudation of Isfan Yoppy Andrian (36), Riyanto (58), Danang Dewo Subroto (58), is not good enough because they are not criminals involved in theft or so on. Even though, they were still guilty of negligence which resulted in the deaths of 10 students during river tracing activities.

Responding to the criticism over the removal of the three suspects, the Head of Public Relations of the Yogyakarta Special Region Police (DIY) Kombes Yuliyanto said that his party would investigate whether there was any abuse of authority by investigators.

Outdoor activities in the middle of this weather cannot be justified. Mistakes, especially losing the lives of beloved children, must be processed. Everything is the same in front of the law. Is it true that if teachers are baled and led on the streets, is it in accordance with the SOP? Come on, be calm.

- REGULATORY OFFICIAL PGRI ACCOUNT (@PBPGRI_OFFICIAL) February 25, 2020

Later, Porpam will examine the investigator who handled the case. It's just that from the confession of the three suspects that the hair-shaving action was based on their wish as a form of regret.

"While it is like that (the suspects' wishes), we will explore all the possibilities," said Yuliyanto.

Although based on his own wishes, member of Commission III of the DPR RI, Muhammad Syafi'i, felt that the removal of the three teachers was inappropriate. Even in criminal law, it does not regulate such things.

"Nothing. Whereas in the Criminal Code all acts that violate the law are all regulated, processed, then later in court, the verdict is like that. But to strip people, there are no clothes to be paraded around the village. There are no rules whatsoever, stripping the suspects, "said Shafi'i.

Referring to the Regulation of the Minister of Law and Human Rights number 6 of 2013 concerning the rules of correctional institutions and state detention centers, Article 3 letter e is written that every prisoner or detainee is obliged to maintain tidiness and dress in accordance with the norms of decency.

However, the regulation does not specify in detail the boundaries of neatness for prisoners or detainees. For example, related to the maximum length of hair or so on. So, it can be said that there are no standard rules regarding the denudation of suspects.

Universita Indonesia criminologist Ferdinand Andi Lolo also commented on the regulation. According to him, each law enforcement agency has its own rules in handling criminals. These rules are things that can and should not be done based on joint decisions.

"Each institution, such as the National Police, the Attorney General's Office, the Corruption Eradication Commission and the detention center, has its own SOP. So it is not regulated in the Criminal Procedure Code, but there are internal rules," said Ferdinand.

Differences in rules can also occur even in the same agency. For example, the rules for handling detainees at the resort police (polres) level will be different from the sector police (polsek). The reason is, there are several actions taken with discretion to emphasize health and safety factors.

So, the existence of different regulations in each agency, it will not always result in the emergence of new problems. But it is more to look at other factors that must be prioritized.

"There are actions taken against detainees based on discretion for health or security purposes, for example. So it doesn't always have to cause problems," said Ferdinand.