Issues: `David's family feels unfairly treated'

Thu, 07/02/2009 1:10 PM  |  Reader's Forum

The case of David Hartanto Wijaya, an Indonesian student who died at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in March, is entering a crucial stage but the family continues to be suspicious of the investigation process. David's family filed a request in April to the Singaporean coroner's court to consider the case as a murder, challenging conclusions made by the NTU and Singaporean police that David committed suicide. Only if the coroner's court finds it was not suicide will the case be forwarded to the criminal court.

However, David's family feels they have still received unequal treatment throughout the process. The case has just entered the third phase of the court process, with more witnesses to be presented by the NTU and the family. Hartono Wijaya, David's father, said the NTU had already presented 22 witnesses, with four more to be presented soon. "But so far we were only given the opportunity to present four witnesses, out of nine names we have submitted," Hartono said on the telephone from Singapore.

Your comments:
The smell of foul play in this case is so strong. I think I have lost respect for Singapore. It's really too bad for Singapore.

At first, Indonesians learned from Singapore's seemingly "pristine" criminal judiciary practices, but now we see it's a deep dark secret that would stain it's reputation forever. Too bad indeed.

Dan

As much as I sympathize with the Widjaya family, they must acknowledge that the inquest was conducted openly in Singapore. We Indonesians should also recognize that we cannot apply our own standards of justice in Singapore.

I have studied in Singapore for four years, and I strongly believe that if there was any attempt to cover-up this tragedy, not only would we Indonesians not accept the results but also the Singaporean public because they themselves will never accept any ill-conduct within their judiciary. During the inquest, eye witnesses (from several NTU students) testified that David threw himself from the bridge to his death. Are they lying?

Instead of purely speculating, the Widjaya family needs to come out with real evidence rather that emotional rants. We Indonesians are so used to injustice in our own legal system that we subconsciously apply the same standards to other countries!

Keith

The Singaporean government should take this case more seriously. There are widespread rumors that foul play has occurred at a high level in this case. They should know that by now, the Indonesian Chinese community greatly doubts the Singapore government's clean reputation when it comes to handling criminal matters.

The final verdict of this case will provide an opportunity for the world to judge whether Singapore really deserves to be listed as one of the world's safest countries or if it is a nation on the brink of panic resulting from the global economic crisis. Are they willing to use any means possible to protect their reputation?

Dessy

Hartono claims the family was only given the opportunity to present four witnesses out of nine names they submitted. And he concedes that "one of them was his brother, the other three are his friends. But they are not eyewitnesses".

If these are the most appropriate witnesses the family has been able to call upon thus far, then it's not a mystery why the other witnesses requested by the family were not allowed.

Hartono also mentioned that the family had tried to find eyewitnesses from the university but everyone had remained tight-lipped.

I assume the family wants to look for eyewitnesses to testify at the court. Perhaps Hartono or the reporter can tell us whether eyewitnesses are already included in the 22 witnesses called by NTU. If so, then the family's lawyer would have had the opportunity to question them.

I also wonder how the so-called forensic experts drew the conclusion of it absolutely being a suicide when their were defensive wounds present on David's body.

Perhaps they are alluding to the possibility the he was mortally injured and someone then carried him out of the room and threw him into a corridor. So much for science.

Keith

The report is not balanced. There have been media reports stating that evidence was produced in court to show David had been "researching" suicide online and there was a draft of a suicide note on his computer.

It was alluded that he was under a lot of pressure, possibly from his family. To be balanced, the reporter from The Jakarta Post should have also looked into these facts since they may point toward a reason why his death actually occurred.

Last but not least, if the coroner concludes it was a suicide, the family has the right to take legal action against NTU and the professor.

Bryan T
Singapore

The forensic expert from the University of Indonesia who went with David's parents to Singapore identified marks on the side of his head and limbs which indicated his body was dragged from one place to another. So, he dragged himself along before jumping off the edge of a building?

Jassy

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