Lawyers maintain Adiguna's innocence
Lawyers maintain Adiguna's innocence
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
On the final day of his trial, lawyers of businessman Adiguna
Sutowo maintained on Thursday their defendant was innocent of
murder and urged the judges to acquit him.
"We still reject the state prosecutors' charges and we'll
stick to our defense statement that Adiguna is innocent and he
should be acquitted from all charges," Adiguna's chief lawyer
Mohammad Assegaf told the Central Jakarta District Court.
Adiguna is charged with killing bartender Johanes Berchmans
Haerudy (Rudy) Natong at the Hilton Hotel, owned by Adiguna's
brother Ponco Sutowo, on Jan. 1.
Thursday's trial was the final session for the defense before
the panel of judges is expected to deliver its verdict on June
16.
Adiguna has consistently denied involvement in the killing
despite the fact that his lawyers have submitted a letter seeking
leniency for Adiguna from Rudy's father.
During Thursday's trial, the lawyers pointed at conflicting
statements by witnesses, whose testimonies have been used by the
prosecutors to demand a life sentence for the businessman.
"We believe there are too many conflicting testimonies. On the
shooting incident itself, (a witness) Werner Saferna said Adiguna
handed over the gun to him after a few seconds, while Cut Nina
said that the defendant hid his gun in his pocket after shooting
Rudy," Amir Karyatin, one of Adiguna's lawyers, said.
Amir said that such conflicting testimonies should not be used
to charge the defendant.
"It shows that the charges are speculative."
Amir said prosecutors had also failed to prove that a quarrel
occurred before the shooting.
"None of the witnesses saw the defendant quarreling with the
victim. Only Cut Nina heard someone say 'stop it, stop it'
without being able to identify who was arguing. If a quarrel can
not be proven, then the defendant had no reason to kill the
victim," Amir said.
The lawyers asked the judges to consider that the prosecutors'
charges were unfounded.
Before adjourning the session, the judges permitted Adiguna to
undergo minor surgery for sinusitis, allowing the defendant to be
hospitalized for four days as requested by doctors of the M.H.
Thamrin Hospital, who had earlier examined his health.
"In the name of humanity, we, the judges decide: First, to
allow the defendant to be hospitalized starting from June 2 until
June 6; second, during the hospitalization, we instruct state
prosecutors to guard the defendant."
"And third, the defendant must be returned to his cell in the
Salemba Penitentiary on June 7," presiding Judge Lilik Mulyadi
said, reading out the court's decision.
Observers say the verdict in the high-profile trial, which has
drawn the attention of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, will
test the courts' independence in trying powerful and wealthy
businessmen.