Supreme Court rejects appeal from 3 convicts<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it
\nhas turned down an appeal from three men convicted for a murder
\nin March 1987, even though another person has since forward
\nadmitting to the murder.<\/p>\n
In the case between Lingah (51 years old) , Pacah (43) and
\nSumir (33) against the state, the supreme court upheld the guilty
\nverdict passed by the Ketapang District Court in West Kalimantan
\nand endorsed the sentences -- 12 years for Lingah and 11 years
\neach for the other two.<\/p>\n
The three men were found guilty by the lower court, in
\nDecember 1987, of murdering Pamor, 72 years old. The high court
\nlater upheld the verdict.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, encouraged by court testimony in which a man
\nconfessed to have committed the murder, the three men filed for a
\nreview of their case with the supreme court.<\/p>\n
Asun, who was standing trial for the rape and murder of
\nSimulan, Pacah's daughter, confessed that he murdered Pamor in
\n1987.<\/p>\n
Supreme Court Secretary General Toton Suprapto, in announcing
\nthe verdict yesterday, said the court had some doubts about the
\nsincerity of Asun's confession to the 1987 murder.<\/p>\n
\"The supreme court cannot release the three convicts because
\nAsun gave inconsistent testimony in court,\" Toton, who is also
\nthe court's clerk in the trial, told reporters.<\/p>\n
The hearing of the appeal was presided over by M. Djaelani,
\nthe supreme court's Deputy Chief Justice, and assisted by two
\njustices R. Mohamad Iman and Palti Radja Siregar.<\/p>\n
The supreme court's team had asked Asun once again during the
\nhearing whether or not he did in fact commit the murder as he had
\nconfessed in court.<\/p>\n
Asun responded that he had not committed the murder but had
\nmade the confession at the urging of Sumir when they were put in
\nthe same penitentiary house.<\/p>\n
Yet in one trial hearing in the lower court, he said he had
\ncarried out the murder at the behest of another criminal.<\/p>\n
Given Asun's lack of credibility, the supreme court decided
\nthat the guilty verdicts against the three men stood, Toton said.<\/p>\n
Asun's testimony, made during the trial of the rape and murder
\ncase of Simulan, could not be used as evidence for the murder
\ncase of Pamor because they were two separate cases, Toton said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether there could be a possibility that the court may
\nhave jailed innocent people, Toton said that based on the
\nevidence presented, the supreme court is convinced that the lower
\ncourt has made the right decision.<\/p>\n
He added there could be a possibility of a new investigation
\nif there is sufficient evidence to support Asun's testimony.<\/p>\n
The case of Lingah, Pacah and Sumir drew national attention
\nafter Asun's confession to the murder. Their lawyers -- Akil
\nMochtar, Tamsil Syoekur and Alamuddin -- quickly applied for a
\nreview of the case and urged the supreme court to order the
\nrelease of their clients pending the outcome of the appeal.<\/p>\n
Freedom did not come until September this year when they were
\ngiven conditional release, not because of the order from the
\nsupreme court but because they had served two-third of their
\nterms, which qualified them for parole.<\/p>\n
Although no longer serving time, they had pressed for their
\ncase at the supreme court to have their names and reputation
\nreinstated. The court's ruling, announced yesterday, reiterated
\ntheir status as convicted murderers although they do not have to
\ngo back to jail.<\/p>\n
The supreme court has been sharply criticized from many
\nquarters, including the National Commission on Human Rights, for
\ndragging its feet in handling the murder case, especially in view
\nthat the court may have convicted the wrong people.<\/p>\n
They drew analogy with the celebrated case of Sengkon and
\nKarta, two men convicted for a murder in 1980 but released after
\nspending six years in jail when the authorities found the real
\nmurderers. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-from-3-convicts-1447893297",
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