Defendant begs Matori for forgiveness

Defendant begs Matori for forgiveness

JAKARTA: To a rapt court on Wednesday, the man charged with
complicity in the attempted murder of National Awakening Party
chairman Matori Abdul Djalil fell to his knees in front of him
and begged for forgiveness.

"Pak, I am sincerely sorry. I never meant to kill you. Please
forgive me, because I never meant to kill you," defendant Achmad
Tazul Arifin, alias Sabar, said, while hanging onto Matori's
right leg and kissing his right hand in a hearing in the South
Jakarta District Court.

"I hope you have it in you to forgive me because it is the
true wish of my heart."

The incident happened after presiding judge Munawir asked
Arifin if he agreed with everything Matori had said in the
hearing.

"I don't know, since I am not the man (Tarmo) Pak Matori
testified against ... I am the man who worked alongside him
(Tarmo). Still, I have something to say to Pak Matori. I need to
clear things up in here," Arifin told Munawir, pointing toward
his heart.

Matori was testifying as a witness in the trial of Arifin, the
man charged with direct involvement in the attempt on his life on
March 5 this year.

Police say that Arifin, 33, worked alongside Matori's
attacker, Sarmo, alias Tarmo.

Police confiscated a rifle, an FN gun and a homemade revolver
from Arifin's home in the Total Persada Raya housing complex,
Jatiuwung district, Tangerang, on March 9.

Arifin has not said much about Tarmo, who was lynched by
nearby residents and ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers in the
Jagakarsa area for not paying for a ride shortly after the
attack.

Police have yet to arrest the two other primary suspects in
the case, namely Zulfikar and Assadullah.

At Wednesday's hearing, Matori said that on the morning of
March 5 he left his house at Jl. Elang Mas II in Tanjung Mas Raya
housing complex, which was being renovated, and saw a man
speaking to one of his five construction workers, identified as
Joko.

"The man, who was dressed in dark blue training pants, a white
shirt and running shoes, was speaking to Joko. So I asked Joko
who he was," Matori told the hearing.

Matori said that the man approached him and started showing
him interior design brochures. While Matori was looking through
the designs, he sensed the man moving quickly to his side. He was
then struck on his head "two or three times."

"It sounded like plak ... plak ... I did not know that I had
been struck with a machete. That man started to run away and I
screamed, 'Hey, be careful ... there's a man running wild'," he
said.

"My son heard my screaming and came out of his room. He saw my
bleeding head and immediately said that I had to be taken to a
hospital."

Matori also testified that he had often received anonymous
terror calls, but had never reacted to them.

"I am in no way related to the defendant, nor had I ever seen
him before this whole incident occurred," he said.

He said the alleged killer had entered his residence via a
back door in the guest hall area.

When asked whether people were free to walk in and out of that
door without being checked by security personnel, Matori said:
"The house is located on a huge empty field. It is very easy to
spot strangers walking around."

Earlier, prosecutor Abdul Kamar Badrun said that Arifin had
violated Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder,
which carries a maximum sentence of death.

Abdul said Arifin had also violated Article 355 of the
Criminal Code on premeditated attempt to cause serious injuries,
which carries a maximum sentence of 12-years imprisonment; and
Article 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951 on the possession of a
weapon without a permit, which carries the death sentence or life
imprisonment. (ylt)