Jakarta. The father of a teenage boy who died alongside his girlfriend Vina Dewi Arsita eight years ago has issued a reprimand against witnesses who retracted their earlier testimonies and recently claimed that the couple’s murder case was fabricated.

Rudiana, a police officer in the West Java town of Cirebon, also demanded that prominent politician Dedi Mulyadi publicly apologize for posting videos of interviews with those witnesses. Rudiana accused Dedi of “spreading false statements” alleging that Rudiana had intervened in the investigation and forced eight suspects to confess to the murders.

Rudiana’s son, Muhammad Rizky Rudiana, alias Eky, and Vina were found dead on an elevated road in Cirebon on August 28, 2016. Eight defendants were convicted of murdering the couple and gang-raping Vina. Seven of them were sentenced to life imprisonment, while the remaining defendant received an eight-year sentence.

The case resurfaced after all eight convicts recently retracted their confessions, claiming they were made under duress and alleging that Rudiana had tortured them during the interrogation. Their lawyers argued that Eky and Vina had died in a motorcycle accident based on a preliminary investigation by the traffic police.

In the latest development, Dede Riswanto, a key witness in the murder case, told Dedi, the politician, that he had been instructed by Rudiana to testify that he saw the defendants chasing Rizky and Vina while carrying bamboo sticks and stones on the night before the couple were found dead.

In the video posted on Dedi’s YouTube account last weekend, Dede admitted to perjury and apologized to all the convicts.

Rudiana vehemently denied the allegations and urged Dede, Dedi, and another witness named Liga Akbar to make a public apology or face a lawsuit for slander and defamation.

Elza Syarief, an attorney for Rudiana, said on Monday that the three have until Wednesday to apologize, or her client will file a police complaint against them.

"As for Dedi Mulyadi, we reprimand him for acting like a detective. He has conducted many interviews and spread these false reports," Elza said.

She claimed that Rudiana’s legal team had previously requested Dedi to stop interviewing witnesses.

"However, he has turned a deaf ear to our request, so we demand that he clarify his statements and apologize to First Inspector Rudiana within three days, or we will file a criminal case against him," she said.

Elza added that her client is also a witness who has lost his son.

Dedi, a former regent of Purwakarta who also has served as a lawmaker, responded to the reprimand by saying that he apologized for words that might have offended Rudiana, but not for interviewing the witness and posting the video on YouTube. 

Rudiana was a low-ranking officer assigned to the narcotics unit of the Cirebon police when his son died.

As the case resurfaced, he came under public scrutiny for overstepping his authority by getting involved in the homicide unit and causing bias in the police investigation into his son and Vina’s deaths.

Recent remarks from key witnesses led to public opinion that a policeman angered by his son’s death had forced eight innocent people to serve lengthy prison sentences.

The seven convicts serving life imprisonment include Jaya, 23; Supriyanto, 20; Eka Sandi, 24; Hadi Saputra, 23; Eko Ramadani, 27; Sudirman, 21; and Rivaldi Aditya Wardana, 21. Another convict, Saka Tatal, has been released from prison for good behavior after serving half of his eight-year sentence.