Confession to murder retracted

Confession to murder retracted

JAKARTA (JP): A high school student told a court on Wednesday
that he had been forced to confess to fatally stabbing a person.

"I was coerced by the police into admitting that I stabbed
Abdul Halim to death," the suspect, identified only as Ind., 18,
told the East Jakarta district court.

On Jan.16, victim Abdul Halim, a high school student, was
attacked on a minibus heading to Kampung Melayu terminal in East
Jakarta by a gang of a technical high school students on Jl.
Inspeksi Saluran Kali Malang.

Seven suspects, all high school students, including Ind, are
being tried in two separate hearings for their alleged
involvement in the brawl in which the suspect was killed.

Taking the witness stand in a hearing of the six other
suspects, Ind said that he retracted his statement made to the
police.

"It is up to you if you want to give elaborate testimonies,"
Judge Tojib Madretis said, "we will take your misdemeanor into
consideration when we discuss the term of punishment." (14)