Police hunt for men threatening Acan's relatives<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Bekasi police are hunting a number of men
\nbelieved to have intimidated relatives of Acan, whose wife and
\ndaughters were raped by a gang of robbers last year.<\/p>\n
Bekasi Police Chief Lt. Col. Elfrizo Tobing told The Jakarta
\nPost on Saturday the intimidators are the relatives of the 11
\ndefendants being tried for the gang rape and robbery.<\/p>\n
Three of Acan's relatives, Namit, Arief and Ali, reported to
\nthe Bekasi police on Thursday that a number of men, claiming to
\nbe the relatives of the gang members, demanded that the victims'
\nfamily members withdraw the charges.<\/p>\n
The three live in Bogor but as the case is handled by the
\nBekasi authorities, they reported the intimidation to the Bekasi
\npolice.<\/p>\n
Last Thursday the defendants' relatives became outraged and
\nthrew shoes at the prosecutors who asked the court to sentence
\nthe defendants to 12 and 16 years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
They threw the shoes at Prosecutors T. Baringin Udjung and
\nNovimar Ali as they left the courtroom at the Bekasi District
\nCourt on Thursday. Everything was under control when the head of
\nthe Bekasi prosecutors' office, Chairuman Harahap, arrived at the
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
Tobing said that his office had coordinated with the Bogor
\npolice.<\/p>\n
A reliable police source told the Post on Saturday that the
\nintimidation was led by an ex-serviceman. \"He is a relative of
\none of the defendants, the officer added.<\/p>\n
\"We don't care who they are,\" Tobing said when asked for
\nconfirmation. \"What we need to do is to find these men and ask
\nthem to take responsibility for the crime they have committed.
\nIntimidating people is a crime.\"<\/p>\n
According to the prosecutors, nine of the 11 defendants who
\nare between 17 and 23 years old, were found guilty of raping
\nAcan's wife and their two daughters and stealing their jewelry in
\nJuly last year at their home in a remote village of Cimatis,
\nBekasi, some 30 km southeast of the city.<\/p>\n
It was only proven that the two others accompanied the group.<\/p>\n
At the first trial of the case in December, courtroom visitors
\nattacked the lawyers of the 11 suspects twice when the lawyers
\nattended the hearings of the lawsuit against the Bekasi police
\nover what the lawyers called the unlawful arrest of their
\nclients.<\/p>\n
Most of the attackers were incensed at the nature of the crime
\nfor which the suspects had been arrested.<\/p>\n
The defense lawyers then withdrew their lawsuit against the
\nlocal police, saying that the authorities had failed to protect
\nthem. (bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-hunt-for-men-threatening-acans-relatives-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}