Revealed! 'This Tradition Trains Junior's Mentality', Says Defendant Of Persecution Who Killed Junior PIP Semarang In Front Of Judges

JAKARTA - Five cadets of the Polytechnic of Shipping Sciences (PIP) Semarang, Central Java, accused of molestation that killed their junior Zidan Muhammad Faza said that the practice of violence in physical training by seniors against juniors had become a tradition.

This was conveyed by the defendants in a trial at the Semarang District Court, Wednesday, April 13 with the agenda of examining the defendant.

Five PIP Semarang cadets were charged with molesting to death Zidan Muhammad Faza, a junior cadet at the government-owned educational institution.

The five defendants were Caecar Richardo Bintang Samudra Tampubolon, Aris Riyanto, Andre Arsprilla Arief, Albert Jonathan Ompusungu, and Budi Dharmawan.

The defendant Aris Riyanto admitted that the tradition of physical development had been passed down from generation to generation, since the previous senior cadets.

According to him, the punches in the tradition of physical training are already known to senior and junior cadets.

"This tradition is for mental training for juniors," he said in the trial chaired by the presiding judge Arkanu, quoted from Antara.

Another defendant, Albert Jonathan Ompusungu also admitted that he had experienced physical violence by his senior cadets in the past.

While relating to the physical development activities at Mes Indoraya that killed Zidan Muhammad Faza, the defendant said that the 15 juniors who were gathered at the time of the incident knew that they would experience violence while carrying out this tradition.

The defendant Andre Arsprilla Arief also said the same thing.

"Beating has become a familiar thing for PIP cadets," he said.

Meanwhile, the defendant Caecar Richardo Bintang Samudra Tampubolon revealed that the tradition of physical coaching with violence that occurred on September 6, 2021 was not only carried out against the juniors in his class.

He mentioned that there were two other classes that also carried out similar physical training at the same time, but in different places.

In addition, he said, in the incident at Mes Indoraya, not all senior cadets had taken disciplinary action in the form of hitting their juniors at that time.

"If the victim Zidan Muhammad Faza does not fall, the tradition of physical training will continue," he said.

After the examination of the accused, the trial will continue with the reading of the demands by the public prosecutor at the trial next week.