Clinic employees jailed for assisting abortions
Clinic employees jailed for assisting abortions
JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta District Court sentenced
yesterday four employees from two clinics to between 10 and 12
months in jail for their roles in assisting in scores of illegal
abortions.
Presiding Judge Endang Sumarsih told the court the defendants
had been found guilty of assisting in the illegal practices at
the Amalia and Herlina clinics in Tanah Tinggi between 1989 and
last November.
Moreover, "the defendants knew of the abortion practices at
the two clinics but they did not report them to the police,"
Endang said.
The two female defendants were identified as Sri Sumiyati, 34,
and Tarinah, 52, while the men were named as Suprih alias
Kampret, 50 and Syahmudin, 29.
Endang sentenced the two women to 10 months in prison and the
male defendants to one year in jail.
They were all charged under Article 56 of the Criminal Code on
aiding and abetting in a crime. This carries a maximum penalty of
one third of the punishment of the crime itself.
Sri, an administration employee at the Amalia clinic, was the
one who registered the patients.
Tarinah, a maid at the Herlina clinic, often cleaned devices
used in the abortions, Endang said.
Kampret was hired at the Herlina clinic to bury the aborted
fetuses in the backyard of a school for disabled children on Jl.
Arief Rachman Hakim 5B, also in Central Jakarta, she said.
Syahmudin, a brother-in-law of the Amalia clinic's owner, was
convicted of taking patients to the clinic, the judge said.
The clinic's owner, Kurniasih, alias Cicih, was sentenced to
20 months by the same court on Wednesday.
According to judge Endang, all four defendants had admitted
and regretted the crimes they had committed and promised not to
repeat their wrongdoings.
Prosecutor Shinta Sasanti accepted the judge's decision while
the defendants' lawyer, Zainuddin Lubis, said he would consider
whether to appeal the verdict.
Shinta had asked the court to sentence the defendants to two
years in jail each. (jun)