Bus driver jailed for murder of police officer

JAKARTA (JP): A court in East Java has sentenced a bus driver to 14 years in jail for killing a police officer after a controversial trial in which evidence of the murder, according to his lawyer, was circumstantial.

The district court in Magetan found Muhadi guilty on Tuesday for the murder of first corporal Yatno.

Yatno saved the driver from a mob who went after him after he drove his bus into two women, the wives of air force officers, last August. Both women died in the accident.

According to the Kompas daily, a distraught Muhadi quickly jumped out of his seat when the verdict was announced and shook his fist at the judge, saying that he refused to accept the ruling.

His lawyer Indro Sugianto yesterday gave confirmation to The Jakarta Post that Muhadi would appeal against the sentence.

"I will spend not even a single day in jail for a murder I didn't commit," Indro quoted Muhadi as saying.

His lawyers also questioned what motive Muhadi could have for killing a man who had saved him from a mob.

The trial has been wrought with controversy, with the judge refusing to allow witnesses Muhadi's lawyers had called.

The lawyers had asked the court to summon a forensic expert who would testify whether or not the officer was killed from at point blank range as suggested by the prosecution, or from a sharpshooter as the defendant had insisted.

The judge also refused to allow a ballistics expert to testify. This expert witness would have been able to tell whether the bullet that killed the officer came from a rifle or the officer's own gun.

Muhadi's version was that he saw two men on a motorcycle, one of them holding a rifle, shortly after Yatno was shot.

The prosecution said that Muhadi overpowered Yatno, took the gun and shot him. Two witnesses testified that they saw Muhadi near Yatno but did not see him pulling the trigger.

Indro said there were many irregularities in the trial, including the court's refusal to mention that a group of air force members attacked the police precinct where Muhadi had been held. (05)