Four key witnesses to testify for David

Four key witnesses to testify for David

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 04/27/2009 9:01 PM | National

In an attempt to convince judges that David Hartanto Widjaja, an Indonesian student who died at the Nanyang Technology University (NTU) campus in Singapore in March, did not commit suicide, his family will present four additional key witnesses at a coroner's inquest in Singapore from May 20-26.

David was found dead after allegedly committing suicide at his campus in Singapore, where he was reportedly having difficulties with his studies. According to witnesses, the student died after jumping from a balcony of a campus building.

The university said David was under stress because his grades had dropped due to his addiction to online games and he was in danger of losing his scholarship.

In a statement issued shortly after his death, it was claimed David was in a meeting at the office of his mentor, Professor Chan Kap Luk, when he went berserk and stabbed his teacher in the back. He then left the office, stabbed himself repeatedly, then jumped off the balcony, the university claims.

David’s parents, however, have insisted their son was murdered, denying he would never commit suicide and claiming they had evidence to prove it. They will underline the oddities found at the crime scene.

The family and an independent verification team filed the case with the coroner’s court last week and gathered their own witnesses to support their case.

“One of the witnesses is a professor whose office is located next to Chan’s. The professor, named Chang Chong Wah, said he thought there was no reason at all for David to commit suicide because he was working on a high-profile, PhD-caliber project,” the team’s leader, Iwan Piliang, said Monday in Jakarta.

David was working on a Computer Vision (CV) technology project, mostly applied in the entertainment and military industries, at the time of his death.

“David was a genius and he never complained of any problems with his studies at all. Before he died, we had regular talks and I did not notice any stress at all in him,” David’s older brother William said.

The team also said they had found many unexplainable oddities at the crime scene. For instance, even though the NTU statement said David was the aggressor, Chan had fewer wounds than David.

“Chan had only five wounds on his body while David had 36. Most of them were on his right arm,” Iwan said.

“However, the latter fact does not match the fact David was right-handed. If it was true he cutg himself after stabbing Chan, then the wounds should be on his left arm.”

He added there was no blood at all found near the balcony, which many said David had climbed prior to jumping.

“David had so many cuts and bled profusely, there should have been blood in the area surrounding the balcony,” Iwan said.

The inquest is a vital part of David’s family’s search for justice to clear his name. If the court rules David’s death was indeed suicide, the case will be closed. If it suspects foul play, a further investigation will take place.

Inquests are common in the Singaporean judicial system. They have the ability to limit the state’s power in stopping an investigation into a case. (hdt)

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Chan Kap Luk to testify at inquiry

April 23, 2009

NTU STUDENT'S DEATH

Prof to testify at inquiry

Injured don will be one of about 16 witnesses at coroner's hearing

By Kimberly Spykerman
		The family of NTU student David Hartanto Widjaja, (from left) older brother William Widjaja, mother Huang Lixian and father Hartanto Widjaja, flew in from Jakarta to attend the hearing of the case yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

THE coroner's inquiry into the death of Nanyang Technological University student David Hartanto Widjaja - who allegedly stabbed his professor - will be held over five days next month.

The dates for the hearing have been set for May 20 to 22, 25 and 26.

Early last month, the 21-year-old Indonesian student, in his final year of studies at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, fell four storeys to his death on campus.

Only minutes before, he was seen running out of his professor's office midway through a discussion, bleeding profusely.

The professor - Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk - had knife wounds and was taken to the National University Hospital.

On Wednesday, lawyer Shashi Nathan, who represents the Widjaja family, and State Counsel Shahla Iqbal, who is assisting the court in the inquiry, spent almost an hour in the chambers of State Coroner Victor Yeo before the matter was mentioned in open court.

The court heard that around 16 witnesses will take the stand.

Mr Nathan said that although the list has yet to be finalised, it is certain that Prof Chan will be one of those in the line-up.

He added that the pathologist who conducted the autopsy is likely to be the first witness.

Mr Widjaja's parents and older brother flew in from Jakarta on Tuesday to attend the hearing. At court, they were accompanied by Indonesian embassy officials. The family have also arranged to meet the head of investigations of the Jurong Police Division later today.

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Family to take legal action to investigate David's death

Family to take legal action to investigate David's death

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 04/14/2009 2:56 PM | National

The family of David Hartanto, an Indonesian student accused of stabbing his professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technology University (NTU) before committing suicide, will take further legal steps to investigate his death.

"We are planning to hire a Singaporean lawyer to take this case to court," David's father, Hartono Widjaja, said in Jakarta on Monday, following the family's recent seven-day visit to Singapore to gather more information on the incident.

On March 3, David was found dead, after he plunged from the third floor of a building on the NTU campus.

NTU Director Su Guaning told the Singaporean media that David allegedly stabbed professor Chan Kap Luk before slitting his wrists and jumping to his death.

David's family has rejected the story, saying that the statement was based on the professor's words only and that the director gave the statement before police completed their investigation.

Blogger Iwan Piliang, who accompanied the family on their trip as the head of the case's verification team, said that the family might hire lawyer Shashi Nathan to take the case to Singapore's Coroners Court, which processes cases involving unnatural deaths before they are brought to the criminal court.

"We are hoping to gain an open verdict in the Coroner Courts," Iwan said.

He explained that an open verdict will open the gates for a further investigation of the case.

"We are 99 percent sure that David was murdered," David's older brother William said.

According to William, there is a number of suspicious facts regarding his brother's death. "David's autopsy report revealed that there were 36 wounds to his body. Fourteen of them were knife-inflicted," he said.

Last week, the Singaporean police sent David's autopsy report to his family. However, it was not sent through the Indonesian Embassy but through NTU, thus negating its legality.

"But we still have the autopsy photos," Iwan said, adding that the photos, which were made available on Facebook, contributed to suspicion surrounding the case.

During their trip to Singapore, the family also tried to meet Su Guaning. The director was not available and offered his senior associate provost in his place, but the family declined.

"We also tried to meet professor Chan Kap at his residence, but he too refused to meet us," William said.

The family also paid a visit to Singapore daily The Strait Times, in hopes of changing the public's view on the incident, Iwan said.

David's death received wide attention domestically and internationally after two other members of a NTU research team were found dead.

Five days after David's death, 24-year-old Chinese national Zhou Zheng, an NTU project officer, was found hanging in the balcony of his apartment.

Then, a 29-year-old student was struck and killed by a vehicle near the campus.

Some members of the House of Representatives have demanded the government directly file a complaint with the Singaporean government. (dis)

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Singapore sends autopsy report to David’s family

Singapore sends autopsy report to David’s family

The Jakarta Post , JAKARTA | Sat, 04/04/2009 11:48 AM | National

Singapore’s Nanyang Technology University (NTU) has finally sent the autopsy report of David Hartanto Widjaja, an Indonesian student who died on its campus last month, to his family.

“We have received a scanned copy of the report by e-mail,” William Hartanto, David’s older brother, told The Jakarta Post on Friday by telephone.

He added that at first the university had offered to send the report by a courier service.

“The report mostly contained medical terms. Thus, we will seek professional help to decipher them,” William said, refusing to divulge the contents of the report.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Teguh Wardoyo said his office received no notification regarding the report.

“It was Singapore’s initiative to send it directly to the family and we cannot object to that,” he said.

On March 3, 2008, David was found dead after plunging from the third floor of a building on the NTU campus.

Singaporean authorities believe that the young man slashed his wrist and jumped to his death after stabbing a professor.

However, his family has refused to believe this story, saying that David was not the kind of person who would act violently towards another person or himself.

“There were no eyewitnesses who saw my brother stab the professor or jump from the third floor. The reports were all based on the professor’s own words,” William said earlier this week.
He added that when he flew to Singapore to claim the body, he saw no indication that his brother had tried to slash his wrist.

“There was no blood flowing from his hands or arms, but there was some on his backside and legs, so why did they say he slashed his wrists?” he said.

William says that Singaporean authorities made it difficult for the family, who flew to Singapore a day after the incident, to see David’s body.

“The scene was immediately cleared and we were not allowed to see the body of David right away,” he said.

Two other deaths on the NTU campus came soon after David’s. Zhou Zheng, a 24-year old researcher at the university’s laboratory was found hanging, dead, in an apartment on the campus.

Not long after, 29 year-old Hu Kunlun, another researcher, was hit by a car on his way to the campus. Both researchers were Chinese citizens.

The incident has caused a stir among Indonesians, with conspiracy theories being circulated and talk of revolutionary technology being invented by the 21-year old David.

Blogger Iwan Piliang has suggested that the confiscation of David’s computer and cellular phone by the Singaporean police proves that David’s thesis, which involved three-dimensional face recognition technology, was of high economic value.

“There may have been people with vested interests behind David’s death because of his research findings,” he told journalists earlier this week.

Yayan Mulyana, spokesperson for the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, said that the embassy was yet to receive the autopsy report.

“We will ensure that the investigation is well conducted and that David’s family will obtain justice in this case,” he said. (dis)

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