Army captain's name will be restored<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): East Java's military commander has promised to
\nrestore the name of a convicted Army officer after serving nine
\nmonths in jail for being an accomplice to the murder of labor
\nactivist Marsinah.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo, the chief of the Brawijaya Military
\nCommand, said on Tuesday that the guilty verdict passed by the
\nEast Java Military Tibunal against Army captain Kusaeri appeared
\nunjust now that the main suspects have all been acquitted.<\/p>\n
"It's a pity that he accepted the verdict and did not appeal
\nlike the other nine suspects. Had he appealed, he would have been
\nacquitted too," Imam was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.<\/p>\n
Kusaeri was chief of the military post in Porong, Sidoarjo, in
\nEast Java, when Marsinah was killed in May 1993. The military
\ntribunal said that he knew the murder was going to be committed
\nbut failed to notify his superiors.<\/p>\n
During the trial, the Army captain admitted to meeting with
\nsome of the defendants and to giving some of them a lift on his
\nmotorcycle. He denied having any prior knowledge of a murder
\nplan.<\/p>\n
The tribunal, however, found him guilty and sentenced him to
\nnine months imprisonment. He has since completed his term and is
\ncurrently working in the Brawijaya command, Antara said without
\nspecifying his position.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Imam promised to rehabilitate Kusaeri's name now
\nthat the main suspects have been cleared of the murder charges.<\/p>\n
"I went through his dossier again, and it appears that his
\nonly mistake was failing to report to his superiors a meeting
\nthat took place at the PT Catur Putra Surya," Imam said referring
\nto the watchmaking company where Marsinah worked.<\/p>\n
If that was the only mistake he committed, then his name
\nshould be rehabilitated, he said. "If the other nine defendants
\nwere acquitted and Kusaeri's conviction remained on record,
\nsurely it would raise questions by the public."<\/p>\n
Imam stressed that the East Java military would support the
\npolice's effort to renew their investigation of Marsinah's
\nmurder. "We will give both our moral and material support to the
\npolice," he said. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/army-captains-name-will-be-restored-1447893297",
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