JAKARTA — The murder trial of one of
Indonesia’s most
senior police officers started Monday, in what is seen as a test of the
accountability of the force after it was accused of initially trying to cover
up the crime.
اضافة اعلان
Ferdy Sambo, a
two-star general and head of internal affairs for Indonesia’s national police,
was named as a suspect after his bodyguard was found dead at Sambo’s home in
July.
He stands accused
of ordering a subordinate to shoot Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, or
Brigadier J, then shooting the wounded victim again himself to finish him off.
“Defendant Ferdy
Sambo approached the victim Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, who was lying face
down and still moving in pain near the stairs next to the bathroom,” prosecutor
Sugeng Hariadi read from an indictment letter in South Jakarta District Court
on Monday.
“Then, to make sure
that he was really dead, defendant Ferdy Sambo, who was already wearing black
gloves, grabbed a firearm and shot once into the left side of the back of
Nopriansyah Yosua Hutabarat’s head,” he added.
Police were
initially accused of covering up the murder before Sambo’s August arrest and
September discharge from the force. Intense public scrutiny is now focusing on
the outcome of a trial that experts say is one of the biggest scandals to ever
hit the police.
“This is a test
not only for the police but also for the attorney general office and the court.
It’s a test for our criminal justice system,” Ardi Manto Adiputra, deputy
director of rights group Imparsial, told AFP.
When Brigadier J was
found dead at Sambo’s home on July 8, police initially said another member of
the security detail had killed him after catching him sexually assaulting
Sambo’s wife.
But on August 9,
Sambo was arrested on suspicion of premeditated murder, with his wife arrested
on the same charge two weeks later. They could face the death penalty if found
guilty.
Police did not
reveal the killing for three days and said CCTV footage was not available
because it was not functioning when Brigadier J died.
“There were some
irregularities in the case at the beginning, for almost two weeks the narration
of the story was only based on the manipulation perpetrated by Sambo. Over
time, the police’s alibis and explanation no longer made sense,” Adiputra said.
Indonesian
President Joko Widodo called for a full and transparent investigation into the
case.
Sambo, along with
six other officers, has also been charged with obstruction of justice. The
trial is expected to last for weeks.
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