Five witnesses testify at UNAS students' trial

Five witnesses testify at UNAS students' trial

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court heard
testimonies from five witnesses in the trial of six of the 12
National University students accused of destroying campus
property and assaulting members of the student regiment on Oct.
18 last year.

The five witnesses are, Ibrahim Ansor and Hery Udin, alumnus
of the university and former members of the student regiment, and
Rachmat Rianda, Saut Maruli and Syaiful Rachmat, members of the
Association of Nature Lovers (Himpala).

The witnesses told presiding judge Moegihardjo on Thursday
that none of them had actually seen the six defendants, also
members of Himpala, assaulting student regiment members or
burning the regiment's post.

The six defendants, who were tried on Thursday, are Syech
Aljufri, Agus Heryana Anirun, Wahyu Sugito, Kusnadi Darisan,
Sudradjat Trisna and Indra Mulia Ismet Kamil, while another six
defendants, who are waiting to be tried on March 23, are Yahdi
Djamhur, Reza Pahlevi, Darmawan Bahtiar, Rakai Aria Dipa
Erlangga, Benedictus Satrio Widyanarto and Budi Murdiyanto.

During the court session, Ibrahim also retracted his earlier
testimony, which was given during a police questioning session,
which stated that he saw the six defendants burning the
regiment's headquarters and assaulting its members.

Both Ibrahim and Hery went to their former campus at 1 p.m. to
attend a seminar which was held as part of the activities to
celebrate the university's anniversary.

Saut Maruli said the incident was triggered by various past
incidents and acts of intimidation carried out by some regiment
members.

He also said he had reported the incidents to either the
rector's office or the nearest police precinct but no action was
taken.

Saut's statement was supported by another witness, Syaiful,
who alleged that in August 1993 he was beaten by Mohammad Karim,
a member of the regiment, and his friends. But that the Pasar
Minggu police precinct never took any action against them.

The trial started at 10 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. Judge
Moegihardjo adjourned the trial until March 21. (mas)