JIS Sexual Harassment Suspect Maintains Innocence Behind Bars

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The visitation room at Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta on Thursday, January 25, was crowded at noon during the second scheduled visitation time. Numerous wooden tables had numbers on it to help prisoners easily distinguish between visitors in a room half the size of a badminton court.

Tempo went there to meet former Jakarta International School (JIS) kindergarten janitor Virgiawan Amin who was imprisoned for sexual harassment accusation. At a prison that houses 3,000 inmates, Virgiawan is placed in cellblock Aula that he shares with 40 other inmates, as well as two of his friends, Zainal and Syahrial, who were charged with the same crime.

“Agun Iskandar (another convict in the same case) is in another cell,” said Virigiawan, who’s known as Awan.

Meanwhile, another suspect of the same case, Afrischa, was detained at the Semarang Penitentiary but was already released a few months ago.

“I never did the actions that were alleged against me. I never [committed the crime] but I am imprisoned,” said an expressionless Awan.

Awan recalled why he admitted to the crime alleged towards him. Four years ago at the police station, he admitted guilt because he didn’t stand getting beaten continuously. “We were beaten up, I was scolded,” he said. Another person that was alleged to be involved in the sexual misconduct was Azwar who unfortunately died moments after he was questioned by police members.

Asked whether Awan and his friends having been sodomized in the past, Awan numerously denied that rumor. Doctors in the Sukanto Police Hospital concluded that Awan and his fellow locked-up friends released a report suggesting that the group have been sodomized in the past.

Awan told us the moment after they were questioned at the Jakarta Metro Police headquarters, they were taken to the Police Hospital in Kramatjati where they were medically checked by a doctor and several other people he forgot the details about.

Awan and his friends were told to lie down the sofa. “And then our anuses were inserted with some sort of tool that was hard like metal, it hurt so much.” 

Awan said that he faces no problem during his incarceration. No one from the thousands of inmates attempted to hurt him despite being imprisoned for a sexual harassment case. “I would like to get out of this place as soon as possible,” he said.

LESTANTYA R. BASKORO