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)