Deadly Brawl in Songan, Bangli: Three Defendants Sentenced to 13 and 7 Years in Prison
The panel of judges at the Bangli District Court (PN) has sentenced Jero Wage and Nyoman Berisi to 13 years in prison for a deadly brawl in Banjar Tabu, Songan Village, Kintamani District, Bangli, Bali. The other defendant, I Ketut Arta, was sentenced to seven years in prison. The three defendants were involved in a bloody clash with I Ketut Kartawan, Jero Semadi, and I Wayan Ruslan. In the incident, Semadi and Kartawan died.
“Jero Wage and Nyoman Berisi have been legally proven to have committed the crime of murder. Each defendant is sentenced to 13 years in prison,” said Presiding Judge Hilarius Grahita Setya Atmaja during the trial at PN Bangli on Tuesday (23/6/2026). “Defendant I Ketut Arta has been legally proven to have committed grievous bodily harm resulting in the victim’s death. He is sentenced to seven years in prison,” Hilarius stated.
Hilarius said Kartawan and Semadi were killed by Berisi, Wage, and Arta. The two men were murdered using a spear and swords. Arta and Wage were armed with swords when killing Kartawan and Semadi, while Wage was armed with a spear during the attack. “Driven by emotion and anger, the three defendants slashed and stabbed the victims repeatedly until they died. Therefore, the defendants are proven to have violated Article 458, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code,” Hilarius said.
Following the verdict, both the prosecutor and the three defendants stated they would consider their options. Previously, Wage had been demanded a sentence of 11 years in prison by the prosecutor, while Berisi and Arta faced demands of eight and nine years, respectively. The sentences for Wage and Berisi were aggravated because there was no attempt to apologise or seek reconciliation with the victims’ families after the murders. The same applied to Arta. However, Arta received a lower sentence because Wage and Berisi had already been sentenced to 13 years in a separate case file, in accordance with the new Criminal Code rule prohibiting a panel of judges from imposing a sentence exceeding 20 years.
The deadly brawl began with an argument between Jero Wage, Berisi, and Semadi on social media on Sunday (12/10/2025). They argued over Wage’s jeep being parked carelessly on land belonging to Semadi. Wage, Arta, and Berisi had tried to explain the situation, but their efforts were met with a challenge to fight from Semadi while they were still communicating online. The social media quarrel provoked the anger of Wage, Arta, and Berisi, leading the online dispute to end in real-world murder. Armed with one spear and two swords, Wage, Berisi, and Arta attacked Semadi, Kartawan, and Ruslan on Jalan Raya Banjar Tabu, Songan A Village, Kintamani District, at 08:00 WITA. Semadi and Kartawan died from sharp weapon attacks by Wage, Berisi, and Arta. Kartawan was hacked to death during a one-on-one duel with Arta. Fortunately, Ruslan managed to escape despite suffering several serious injuries caused by Berisi, Wage, and Arta.