TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Three students of the Lancang Kuning University in Riau were reportedly expelled by campus management after they criticized the actions committed by university rector Junaidi. The three students are Cep Permana Galih, George Tirta Prasetyo and Cornelius Laia.

In response to the action taken by the campus, George released a written statement, “We were invited by the deputy rector on February 18, 2021, for a mediation session but the rector refused to participate in the mediation established by the deputy rector. We finally held a demonstration aiming at the rectorate until the afternoon,” he explained.

This demonstration they held was the moment the situation escalated as the three students were arrested by 80 police personnel and the rector had filed a police complaint against them. On the same day, campus management issued a letter that effectively expelled Galih, Prasetyo, and Laia.

The students’ protests were driven by incidents on July 3, 2020, which are the alleged illegal logging by the campus rector Junaidi and the incident where students' thesis were thrown outside of the campus’ library through a window that went viral on social media platforms.

According to George, there was a mediation between students and the rector, and he said that the rector at the time acknowledged the incident. But the rector said that it was an accident. The Lancang Kuning University rector, Junaidi, claimed that the three students were arrested not because of holding a demonstration but because of the actions against lecturers and the actions of damaging campus facilities.

M ROSSENO AJI