Govt pushes for 13 year sentence in Marsinah's trial

JAKARTA (JP): Government prosecutors are urging the court to convict three men whom they accused of murdering labor activist Marsinah last year and sentence them to 13 years imprisonment.

The prosecutors told the Surabaya District Court on Thursday that Bambang Wuryantoro, Widayat and Achmad Sutiono Prayogi took part in the conspiracy to murder Marsinah and helped carry out the execution.

The three are among nine defendants who have been brought to trial in connection with the murder of Marsinah in May of last year.

All three are staff of the PT Citra Putra Surya, the watchmaking company where Marsinah worked. Bambang is an employee, Widayat is a driver and Achmad is a security guard.

The other suspects are also from the company, including Yudi Susanto, its owner.

The lone woman defendant, Mutiari, has already been convicted to seven months in jail after the court found her guilty of being an accomplice to the murder. She is appealing against the decision.

Two domestic helpers working for Yudi identified the three men as the ones who brought Marsinah to the house in May last year. They also testified that Marsinah was tied, bound, gagged, and left to starve for three days before she was murdered.

All the nine suspects maintain their innocence and alleged that their incriminating admissions to their military interrogators were made after they were severely tortured.

Each one has since retracted their statements in court.

The prosecutors' case is built upon their claim that Yudi convened a meeting on May 5 that involved all the nine suspects during which the plan to murder Marsinah was discussed.

They said that they kidnapped her two days later, murdered her, and dumped her body on May 9.

Marsinah's badly mutilated body was found on May 9 in Nganjuk, a city near Sidoardjo. She had led a workers' strike at the watchmaking factory only a few days earlier.

All the nine suspects have denied the existence of the May 5 meeting.

The prosecutors urged the judges to ignore the defendants' claim that they were tortured by their interrogators, stressing that they were resorting to anything to avoid a guilty verdict.

They urged the court to stick to the statements the suspects gave to their interrogators.

The Marsinah trials have attracted a large audience, and most of them cast their support with the public prosecutors.

Thursday was no exception. The gallery cheered when the prosecutors spelled out their demands -- 13 year jail terms, each.

In stark contrast, the three defendants looked like they were fighting against the whole world but they tried to maintain their composure.

Outside the court, however, they have found sympathetic ears with the National Commission of Human Rights. Early this month the Commission said it found evidence that the Marsinah defendants had been tortured and denied some of the their basic human rights.

The commission's report also said that it found evidence that there could be other parties involved in the murder which have escaped the attention of investigators. (prs)