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Police dismiss, name officer suspect in fatal Semarang shooting
The Central Java Police have dishonorably discharged a police officer and named him a suspect in the killing of a vocational high school student in Semarang. The police have retracted their position that the student was involved in a brawl.
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Forensic medical examiners prepare on Nov. 29, 2024, ahead of a post-mortem examination of GRO, the 17-year-old student who was shot by a police officer in Semarang, at the Bangunrejo public cemetery in Sragen regency, Central Java. GRO's family allowed the police and forensic examiners to launch an autopsy of the boy's body to find the cause of his death after he was shot by an officer who claimed that he was dispersing a gang brawl in the provincial capital on Nov. 24. (Antara/Mohammad Ayudha)
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he Central Java Police dismissed an officer and named him a suspect in a fatal shooting in Semarang of a vocational high school student and injured two other students, after holding an ethics hearing and case review on Monday.
Second Adj. Insp. Robig Zaenudin, who was assigned to the Semarang Police’s narcotics division, is under criminal investigation by the Central Java Police for allegedly shooting three students on Nov. 24, killing a 17-year-old student at State Vocational High School 4 in Semarang, identified only by the initials GRO, and injuring two other students.
“We have upgraded Robig’s status as a suspect," Central Java Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Artanto said on Monday, as quoted by Tempo.
Robig was also dishonorably discharged from the force following an ethics hearing late Monday that found him guilty of misconduct.
The hearing was presided over by Adj. Sr. Comr. Edhei Sulistyo from the Central Java Police Narcotics Directorate.
"[The misconduct in question was] shooting at a group of passers-by or children riding motorcycles," Artanto said, adding that Robig would file an appeal and has three days to complete the proposal.
GRO's father Andi Prabowo was satisfied with the verdict, hoping that Robig's appeal would be rejected for the sake of justice for the victims, Kompas reported.
Pressure has been growing for the police to launch a full and transparent investigation into the case, as the police initially provided inconsistent accounts of GRO’s death.
Semarang Police chief Sr. Comr. Irwan Anwar previously said that Robig fired shots to disperse a reported brawl.
However, Central Java Police internal affairs division head Sr. Comr. Aris Supriyono said during a recent hearing at the House of Representatives in Jakarta that Robig’s decision to fire his gun at the students had nothing to do with any attempt to disperse the brawl. The incident occurred after these students overtook Robig.
Irwan told lawmakers at the same meeting that he is “prepared to take responsibility and be evaluated” on his subordinates’ “excessive force” and “neglectfulness in assessing the situation”.
Meanwhile, GRO’s family faced attempts to silence them.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists’ (AJI) Semarang office said in a statement last week that a source close to the family said that the Semarang Police chief and a journalist had visited the family a day after GRO's death and asked them to make a statement saying that they accepted his death.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) last week said that the shooting was a human rights violation, calling on the Central Java Police to carry out a transparent and impartial investigation into Robig.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) demanded that National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo dismiss Irwan for attempting to conceal the circumstances of the teenager's death. (jan)
