Defense claims Trisakti trial 'unfair' and 'fake'

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)