G

adjah Mada University's (UGM) School of Law has handed a one-semester suspension of study to its graduate student, Florence Sihombing, 26, for online comments she made that were considered insulting to the people of Yogyakarta.

'This is the lightest sanction for Florence, who committed an ethics violation categorized as moderate,' the dean of the school, Paripurna Sugarda, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Paripurna, who is also chairman of the ethics committee, said that an academic sanction was chosen due to the ostracization Florence had already suffered from the community, adding that she had been cooperative and serious about remedying her behavior.

'An academic sanction has to be given because the legal process takes time and we don't know the result yet,' he said, adding that the sanction was effective this semester.

The legal case is continuing as the people who reported the case to the police do not want to withdraw their complaint.

Paripurna also said that Florence could use her time during the suspension period to prepare her thesis, although she would not be allowed to consult her lecturers. He added that Florence was still required to pay her tuition fees of Rp 8.5 million (US$725) as she had already registered for this semester.

He said that the school had informed both Florence and her parents of the sanction. 'They accepted the sanction,' he added.

Paripurna stated his hope that the academic sanction would be taken into consideration by the police when deciding whether to pursue the case.

Director of the Yogyakarta Police's special crimes and detectives unit, Sr. Comr. Kokot Indarto, said that the legal process would continue regardless of the academic sanction from UGM.

'The academic sanction is an internal matter. We will only take this into consideration when consulting with the prosecutors,' he said.

The suspension was issued after the school's eight-strong ethics committee held a meeting on Monday to discuss Florence after she insulted Yogyakarta on her Path account, sparking anger among some locals and triggering heated debates across the country.

Florence expressed her anger online after being spoken to sharply for attempting to cut in front of people waiting in line at a gas station on Jl. Lempuyangan in the city.

She wrote: 'Jogja is poor, idiotic, uncivilized. Friends from Jakarta and Bandung, don't stay in Jogja.'

Police considered these comments to have violated articles 27 and 28 of Law No.11/2008 on electronic information and transactions as well as articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code.

Education expert and Yogyakarta State University (UNY) professor Wuryadi said that legal redress would not constitute a solution to the problem. Academic sanctions, he added, would similarly not mean a lot if they were not combined with cultural education.

He expressed his concern that Florence's case was common to most young people in Indonesia, even if they did not always express themselves on social media.

'It is like they are living without any cultural foundation, and depend only on the physical,' said Wuryadi, who is also a member of the Yogyakarta Provincial Education Council.

He added that he accepted that Florence regretted her comments, but that she still had to learn about Yogyakarta culture.