Defense claims Trisakti trial 'unfair' and 'fake'
JAKARTA (JP): The sixth session of the Trisakti shooting incident court martial turned into a heated debate between the presiding judge and the defense lawyers yesterday.
Presiding judge Col. Sudji Suradi even threatened to expel chief defense lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, who called the trial unfair, fake and engineered.
"This is not a fake trial!" Sudji shouted after banging his gavel.
"Are you trying to disrespect this court? If you do so, you may get out of here!" he shouted and reminded the lawyers they were attending a military trial.
The argument started as the defense lawyers were questioning Salatiel Daili, a member of the Trisakti campus authority, who was presented as witness number 11 by the prosecutors.
Salatiel, who earlier said he did not recognize any of the defendants, told the court later that he recognized one of the defendants -- company commander First Lt. Agus Tri Heryanto, 29.
Buyung asked: "You were sworn before the court to tell the truth. Then why didn't you come forward from the beginning? Why is it only now that you say you knew Agus?"
Giving no proper answer, Salatiel said he saw Agus, wearing a helmet and carrying a long rifle, standing under the pedestrian bridge near Trisakti University with him when the troops opened fire at about 5 p.m. .
"This man," he said pointing at Agus, said: 'We (the police) are tired and we have to finish them all.'
"I kept hearing it in my head over and over again. I even had a hard time sleeping. I am traumatized and keep remembering his face," Salatiel said.
Defense lawyer Buyung then questioned how he could recognize the defendant if he wore a helmet.
"I remember his face, his nose, his eyes, his forehead," the witness said repeatedly.
The lawyer continued to cross-examine him with another question: "You said that you care about what happened to these students and you have reported yourself to this court."
Salatiel remained silent.
"Answer me," Buyung asked.
"Were you summoned by the military prosecutors or not? You liar! This is a fake trial!" stated the lawyer.
Appearance
Buyung's remarks prompted Sudji to grab his gavel and bang it on the table.
Salatiel's presence was also questioned by the defense lawyers, who said the prosecutors had not informed them about his appearance at yesterday's session.
"How could this happen? Today we are scheduled to present defense witnesses. The prosecutors have presented 10 people as stated in their request. Now it is supposed to be our turn," Buyung told the court.
But judge Sudji backed the prosecutors' request, saying that based on Article 154 of the Military Penal Code the prosecutors may add more witnesses to help build their case.
Prosecutor Col. Sardji Purnomo said the appearance of Salatiel was meant to clarify the roles of the two defendants in the incident on May 12. Seventeen police officers have been charged altogether.
Like the other 15 officer who are still awaiting trial, the two officers -- Agus and platoon leader Second Lt. Pariyo, 38, both from the city Police mobile brigade unit -- were charged with committing undisciplined acts under Article 103 of the Military Penal Code.
The article carries a maximum sentence of two years and four months in prison.
When asked to comment on Salatiel's statement, the prosecutors' second witness, Second Sgt. Cecep Dadang S., one of Agus' subordinates, told the court that Salatiel was lying.
"Agus is my company commander. As far as I'm concerned, no commander had any long rifle, or wore a helmet. Only 18 men in my company had weapons, including me. What he said is truly lies," Cecep stated.
When Agus was given the chance to reply to Salatiel's remarks, he denied all the witness' testimony.
"If you said that you saw me at 5 p.m. under the bridge, it's totally impossible. My men and I were resting at the time," the defendant said.
"And the shooting did not start until 5:40 p.m.," he told the court.
"I wore a helmet? No. I wore a black cap with the word Gegana (bomb squad) written on it. And I only brought a Super Seven gas gun 15-centimeter short pistol," Agus said.
"But one thing for sure, I've never met this man before in my life," the defendant reiterated.
Before Salatiel, the prosecutors presented Julianto Hendro Cahyono, chairman of the Trisakti student senate, as their 10th witness.
His testimony was also vague after being cross-examined by the defense lawyers, as he admitted to having seen the police firing shots at the students from the flyover.
"You said you got shot inside the campus, and saw the campus rooms filled with tear gas. It was dark, at about 6 p.m. and you were moved to the ninth floor of the building for first aid.
"How come you're so sure that it was the police who were standing on the flyover? Did you see only the police or were there others crowding around as well?" asked Buyung.
Julianto insisted that he saw the police chasing and firing at students.
But he could not give more details. "I'm not sure... it was chaotic everywhere," he added later.
Judge Sudji adjourned the trial until today at 9 a.m..
The defense team is scheduled to present four witnesses Maj. Gen. (ret.) Koesparmono Irsan, Brig. Gen. Sutiyono, Maj. Bayu and Capt. Sutomo.
Jakarta Military Police Commander Col. Hendardji said yesterday that five middle-ranking officers of the 17 suspects detained at Guntur, South Jakarta, have been released on their superiors' guarantee.
The five officers are Second Lt. Eric KS, Second Lt. Basha Y, First Lt. A. Hadi, First Lt. Wandi R. and First Lt. Sriyadi R. All are from the city Police. (edt)