Man may get 12 years for killing thug

JAKARTA (JP): A prosecutor demanded yesterday that the Central Jakarta District Court sentence a man to 12 years in jail for beating up an alleged hoodlum who died of his injuries.

Prosecutor Rudy Yulianto said the defendant, Waimin alias Sunarto, 27, bludgeoned the victim, identified as M. Faisal alias Soni, with a concrete block under the Pejompongan flyover, in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta on the morning of Dec. 23, 1995.

Rudy said the defendant killed Soni, who was known as a hoodlum in the area, because the victim had often extorted money from him.

He said Soni, who was attacked while sleeping under the flyover, was repeatedly beaten in the head by the defendant. Two men, identified as Ujang and Subianto Jusuf, witnessed the attack from about 5 meters away.

The defendant, a bus conductor, escaped on a public bus, leaving the victim lying on the ground, Rudy said.

Residents, including the two witnesses, rushed the victim to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital where he died three days later.

Rudy said police arrested Waimin on Jl. Senopati in South Jakarta on March 3.

He said the defendant was charged under Article 338 of the Criminal Code.

Waimin urged the court yesterday to present the two witnesses because the prosecutor had only read the witnesses' statements from the police dossier.

"I didn't kill Soni. I want the court to bring the two witnesses here," he said.

The defendant said that he was forced to admit to the crime by police, adding that officers had shot him in his right leg to make him confess.

Rudy replied that there was no need to bring the two witnesses to the court because they had been sworn in as stated in the dossier.

Presiding judge Madnyono adjourned the trial until next week to hear a plea from Waimin's lawyer, Esther I. Jusuf from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute. (jun)