Adiguna's team says charges obscure, requests acquittal
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The defense team for businessman Adiguna Sutowo demanded on Thursday that all charges against the murder suspect be dropped, arguing that the prosecutors' case was obscure and misleading.
Amir Karyatin, one of six defense lawyers present during the hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court, claimed that the prosecutors' charges were not in accordance with witness statements in the case file submitted by police investigators.
According to prosecutors, on New Year's day, Adiguna, a prominent 46-year-old businessman, threw a tantrum after a waiter told him that he could not use his debit card to settle a Rp 150,000 (US$16) bill at a bar located in the Hilton Hotel in Central Jakarta.
Adiguna then pulled out a gun and fired a single shot into the head of the 25-year-old waiter, Yohanes Brachmans Hairudy Natong, who was working at the bar to pay his way through university.
The 10-strong defense team pointed out that this description of the chain of events was inconsistent with statements recorded in the case file, in which witness Novia Herdiana, who was with the defendant at the time of the incident, said that the shooting took place after she told Adiguna that the bar would not let them charge their bill to their hotel room.
The defense also complained about media coverage of the case, claiming that it had made their client appear guilty in the eyes of the public.
Karyatin implored trial judges to remain impartial, reminding them that "the court system abides by the principles of the presumption of innocence and non self-incrimination."
After the trial session, Andi Herman, the lead prosecutor in the case, said that the prosecutors' charges were not just based on the case file but also on the autopsy report and the police reenactment of the event.
"Even though there are some minor discrepancies between what is in the case file and what is in the indictment, substantially the facts are compatible," said Andi.
The five-strong prosecution team charged Adiguna with committing an act of malicious, but not premeditated, murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment.
Adiguna is also charged with the illegal possession of a firearm, which is punishable by a life sentence under the 1951 Emergency Law.
In the defense team's 12-page counter-argument, nothing was mentioned concerning the possession of the gun.
Presiding judge Lilik Mulyadi adjourned the trial until Wednesday to hear the prosecutors' response to the defense team's objections. (002)