C

ity police said on Friday that they would question 16 SMA 70 high school students on Monday in connection to the assault and killing of SMA 6 student Alawy Yusianto Putra in a violent incident in the capital earlier this week.

“All 16 are friends of Fitra Rahmadani [the assault’s main suspect]. They will all be questioned as witnesses,” police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said.

Regarding the possibility of any of the 16 students being named as new suspects in the case, he said, “We will wait for the questioning to see if any of them actually took part in assaulting Alawy.”

Police obtained all 16 names based on statements from Fitra and eyewitnesses who were at the crime scene when the attack took place, Rikwanto said.

Police named Fitra as a suspect in the case on Tuesday afternoon, some 24 hours after he allegedly killed Alawy in a violent incident involving students from the neighboring SMA 6 and SMA 70 in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

From the crime scene, police later found and confiscated a sickle that was believed to be the weapon used to fatally wound Alawy. According to the National Police’s forensics team, blood samples taken from the sickle identified as belonging to Alawy. “Based on the suspect’s statements, he used the sickle [to stab Alawy],” South Jakarta Police detective chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hermawan said.

Fitra was arrested at a rented room in Sleman, Yogyakarta, at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday. He was reportedly about to go to Banyuwangi, East Java, when police apprehended him. It was not clear where Fitra planned to go after Banyuwangi, but reports say that his father runs a business in Bali, which is easily reachable from Banyuwangi by ferry.

Police have charged Fitra with forceful attack, murder, and fatal assault under the Criminal Code. He faces up to 15 years in jail if found guilty.

The South Jakarta Police have also detained four individuals who allegedly assisted Fitra in fleeing Jakarta. Police said that two of the four persons, identified only as DD and DN, are Fitra’s brothers. The other two, identified only as GP and AD, are reportedly friends of DD. “DD brought Fitra to Yogyakarta by bus,” Hermawan said, refuting earlier statements from Fitra’s lawyer that the 21-year-old student was on the run by himself.

Police have also confirmed that AD rented the room in Sleman where Fitra was hiding and, therefore, may be charged under Article 221 of the Criminal Code for sheltering criminals, which carries a maximum penalty of nine months in prison. “We can’t charge DD and DN under that article because they are related to FR and are thus exempt,” Rikwanto said.

Police are still mulling whether to charge GP. “He was supposed to take [Fitra] from Yogyakarta to Banyuwangi but didn’t get the chance,” Rikwanto said.

Separately, Depok Police said that they had submitted to prosecutors the case dossiers of eight students for their alleged involvement in the violent brawl on Sept. 12 that left SMK Baskara vocational school student Dedi Tri Yudha dead.

Depok Police chief Sr. Comr. Mulyadi Kaharni said that the police had also confiscated sickles, machetes, Molotov cocktails and motorbike chains from the students as evidence.