Anas receives 10 months probation

Anas receives 10 months probation

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced
defendant Anas Alamudi on Monday to five months in jail for
driving his car into a cordon of troops and injuring eight of
them on Nov. 10, 1998. The sentence was probated to 10 months.

"The defendant is guilty of violating Article 360 of the
Criminal Code," said presiding judge Hupojo in a hearing at the
district court.

Present at the hearing, which started at 12:00 p.m., were
prosecutor Samadi Budisyam and the defendant's lawyers from the
Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, Paulus R. Mahulette and Irianto
Subiyakto.

Also present were dozens of students who gave their support to
Anas during the two-hour hearing.

Paulus said the defendant would not go to jail, unless he
committed a criminal offense within the 10-month probation
period.

"He will have to serve five months in jail, if he commits a
criminal offense during the 10-month probation," he told The
Jakarta Post after the hearing.

Judge Hupojo said the 23-year-old defendant drove his red
Volkswagen into a cordon of troops, assembled on Jl. Imam Bonjol
in Central Jakarta, precisely in front of Bank Bumi Daya
building.

The troops were assembled to prevent student protesters from
marching toward the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) building
located on Jl. Gatot Subroto, several kilometers away.

The capital was gripped by tension at that time as waves of
protesters surrounded the Assembly's special session.

Around 5,000 to 7,000 protesters planned to march to the
Assembly building in an effort to disrupt the session, that they
claimed was being held by unconstitutional legislators, legacies
of the New Order era.

The judge said Anas at first drove the vehicle slowly on Jl.
Imam Bonjol, but he was trapped in the middle of student
protesters and troops. Getting panicked as the troops moved
toward the students, he then drove the car into the phalanx and
injured eight personnel, including three with severe injuries:
Second Lt. Paryono, First. Cpl. Tugiyono and Second Pvt. Susilo.

Afraid that the troops might retaliate for his action, Anas
sped toward Hotel Indonesia and Jl. Blora before he was finally
stopped and arrested by security personnel at Plaza Mashill II on
Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.

Anas, currently works as a journalist at a Jakarta-based
online news provider, rejected the verdict.

"We're considering filing an appeal. The judges did not
consider the lawyers's defense statement," he told reporters, but
did not elaborate.

Similarly, Paulus said he was considering an appeal, although
his client did not have to serve any jail sentence.

"If we accept the verdict, people will assume Anas is guilty.

"He's not guilty since he was forced by the situation to do
so, to protect himself from angry soldiers," he said.

The verdict is lower than the term sought by prosecutor
Samadi, who demanded in the previous hearing that the court
sentence the defendant to six months in jail, with 10 months
probation. (asa)