Police Name 6 Demo Students In DPRA Hate Speech Suspect

Archives - Banda Aceh Police Chief Kombes Fahmi Irwan Ramli (ANTARA/Rahmat Fajri)

BANDA ACEH - Banda Aceh Police have named six of the 16 students arrested during a demonstration in front of the Aceh DPR building, Thursday (29/8), as suspects related to hate speech.

"Of the 16 people, we can prove that their respective roles are six people (suspects)," said Banda Aceh Police Chief Kombes Fahmi Irwan Ramli, in Banda Aceh, Friday, August 30.

The police chief explained that the students were named suspects by unfurling banners with hate speech in public.

Then, also made hate writing at a number of points and Polantas posts in Banda Aceh.

"It turned out that from the results of the witness examination, other evidence contained six students who were strongly suspected of being the perpetrators in the installation of banners that read hostility and hate speech," he said.

Fahmi explained that the 16 students who were arrested were from the Solidarity of Students for the People (SMUR) and LMND Lhokseumawe who took action in front of the Aceh DPR office on Thursday (29/8) with demands for labor wages, poverty, corruption, expensive education and others.

When the action took place, he said, at around 17.17 WIB the Head of the Ops Division of the Banda Aceh Police met with the crowd to coordinate so as not to block traffic and not burn tires in the middle of the road.

"However, the masses were out of control because they thought they would be disbanded, until further 16 people were arrested," he said.

Fahmi said, apart from the six suspects in hate speech, the seven students also tested positive for marijuana-type drugs based on the results of urine tests.

"There are seven positive marijuana-type drugs, and they will be rehabilitated and returned to their families," he said.

He said the demonstrators did have campus attributes, but they did not represent their respective campuses.

Even the university also doesn't know it. That is, they move on their own, and are suspected of being influenced by anarchist groups.

The hate speech suspects are subject to Article 156 and/or Article 157 paragraph 1 in conjunction with 55 of the Criminal Code, where the nest in public expresses feelings of hostility, hatred or insult to an Indonesian people or some groups, which carries a maximum imprisonment of four years.

Currently, the 16 students are still at the Banda Aceh Police Headquarters, and are waiting for a pick-up from their parents for guidance.

"In this repatriation process, we involved parents, keuchik (village heads), and where their campus went to college, so with this firm action we hope that campuses can take a stand," said Kombes Fahmi Irwan Ramli.