Defendants in Bekasi rape case plead not guilty
Defendants in Bekasi rape case plead not guilty
JAKARTA (JP): Eleven men charged with the robbery and rape of
Acan's wife and teenage daughters in Bekasi last July asked the
court to acquit them yesterday.
They claimed they were not involved in the crime and had been
forced to sign the testimony under police pressure.
"I signed the testimony because I could not stand the torture
which I experienced day and night from more than 10 policemen
since they the day they arrested me. They also threatened to
shoot me," Bonen, one of the defendants, said in the Bekasi
court, 30 km southeast of the capital.
Like Bonen, the other defendants, in three separate trials
yesterday, asked that the court bring in a man named Amin to
testify as a witness. They also demanded that the policemen who
arrested and tortured them be summoned.
A source said yesterday that Amin is a prisoner the 11 met
while in Bulak Kapal jail and who, they claim, knows what really
happened.
"The previous witnesses were fake, they knew nothing. Why
doesn't the court present Amin, who knows everything about the
event and the others who took part in the crime," Bonen said.
Among the 28 witnesses who have been heard by the court are
Acan's family members and the defendants, who testified in
separate trials.
Yesterday, Bonen and his co-defendants read written statements
detailing their activities during the night of the crime on July
24 in Cimatis village, Bekasi.
The defendants, aged between 17 and 23, were arrested in
August on charges of having robbed the family and brutally raped
Acan's wife and two teenage daughters. The case has provoked
widespread public anger, and sympathy for the family.
The defendants also asked the court to reject the prosecutors'
demand for a sentence of 16 years imprisonment.
"I would rather be shot or hanged and die at once than be in
prison for a crime I did not commit," Iwan, one of the
defendants, told the court.
One of the 15 defense lawyers, Petrus Bala Pattyona, told the
court that since none of the witnesses ever mentioned anything
about any of the defendants having been in Acan's house during
the crime, the defendants should be released.
The lawyers said they objected to the defendants being
presented as witnesses to testify against other defendants,
which, they said, is against the law. They also doubted the
accuracy of the medical examinations of the rape victims.
Unlike previous hearings, which took place in Bekasi's Civil
Servants Hall, yesterday's session was conducted in the Bekasi
court under tight security.
Dozens of police and intelligence officers were deployed to
prevent another outburst of public anger as had happened during
the pre-trial sessions in August. More than 100 people who wanted
to attend the trials were required to present their ID cards
before they could get an entry pass.
The trials were adjourned until Thursday to give the
prosecutors time to prepare their arguments. (03)