Court sentences shaman to death for serial murders

JAKARTA (JP): Lubuk Pakam District Court in North Sumatra sentenced Akhmad Suraji, a 47-year-old local shaman, to death for the murder of 42 women over a 10 year period on Monday.

Presiding judge Haogoaro Harefa said during the court's final session that the defendant, also known as Datuk, had been proven guilty of killing the women, who all came to seek his help in the village of Sei Semayang, Sunggal, 25 kilometers east of the provincial capital Medan.

"The defendant deserves to be put to death for his sadistic actions and because he has shown no remorse for his crimes during his trial, nor expressed any intent to apologize to the families of his victims," he said.

Suraji was also ordered to pay the court fee of Rp 7,500 (less than US$1).

Around 500 people attending the packed hearing applauded when the verdict was read out, Antara reported.

Nur Alamsyah, the defendant's lawyer from the Medan Legal Aid office, said he would appeal against the decision, claiming there was no strong evidence that his client actually killed the women.

Suraji, who appeared calm throughout the hearing, rejected the verdict and insisted that he had never killed anyone.

Prosecutor Eddy Nurdin sought the death sentence for the defendant during previous sessions.

During the trial that began last December, the prosecutor called 104 witnesses, mostly the defendant's neighbors and relatives of the murdered women, to give evidence.

Forensics expert Amar Singh of the Pirngadi General Hospital in Medan, who conducted postmortem examinations on the remains of the 42 women, also testified against Suraji.

The Deli Serdang prosecutor's office unearthed the victims' remains as soon as news of the murders broke last year.

The police arrested Suraji on April 28, 1997, after a woman's body was found buried in a sugar cane field in the village of Sei Semayang in Lubuk Pakam. She was last seen alive at his home.

Suraji later told police that he had killed 42 women since 1986 as part of a ritual to improve his healing powers. Police have since recovered all 42 bodies from the field.

Suraji allegedly told police that he embarked on his killing spree after his late father contacted him in a dream and ordered him to murder 70 women in a prolonged black magic ritual.

After strangling his victims, Suraji claimed he drank their saliva because he believed it would improve his shamanistic powers.

Suraji, who uses the alias Nasib Datuk Kelewang, was frequently consulted by those seeking spiritual healing and good fortune.

One of his three wives, Tumini, has been charged with complicity in the murders and is currently on trial at a separate court in the province. (rms)