Philipus and four others stand trial on murder charges
Philipus and four others stand trial on murder charges
JAKARTA (JP): The East Jakarta District Court yesterday began trying five suspects charged with killing a woman and three children in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta, on Oct.2 last year.
The five defendants are being tried separately by three panels of judges.
The first panel, led by Judge Sunarto, is trying Philipus Kia Lejab, 47, the prime suspect in the multiple murder.
The second panel, led by Judge Tojib Matderis, is trying Philipus' wife Suparmi, 41. The third panel, led by Farida Achmad, is trying Philipus' sons Albertus, 16, Lambertus, 12, and nephew Clemence, 13.
The East Jakarta prosecutors' office has appointed three teams to handle the case, headed by Saleh Abdurrahman, Hatta Renuad and Mirza Yanuar.
The defendants are accompanied by 13 lawyers from O.C. Kaligis and Partners law firm.
The court session trying Albertus, Lambertus and Clemence is closed to the public because the defendants are minors.
A total of 150 police and military servicemen, some from the anti-riot unit, secured yesterday's trial to prevent public anger getting out of hand. They are equipped with shields, cudgels and sniffer dogs.
The security officers frisked visitors and exchanged their ID cards for visitor cards. Some 200 visitors were prohibited from entering the court compound.
"We did so to prevent any unpleasant incidents," said chief of East Jakarta police precinct Lt. Col. Gorris Mere.
The security officers also escorted the defendants to protect them from public anger. Police guided Philipus through the back door of the courtroom. He was brought to the courtroom in a special car.
Visitors shouted out "Satan, Satan", and "hang them, hang them" when the defendants were leaving the court, but no incidents happened.
Prosecutor Saleh Abdurrahman said Philipus had planned the murder one day before the crime; he told Suparmi, "we will kill Rohadi's family members tomorrow."
Philipus wanted Rohadi's land which is adjacent to his, Saleh said. Philipus was angry after Rohadi's children destroyed his cassava trees, the prosecutor added.
At around 9 am of Oct. 2, the five suspects allegedly went to the victims' house, carrying sharp weapons with them.
Philipus then instructed his companions to pretend to work on his land near the house, waiting for the right moment, the prosecutor said.
A few minutes later, Rohadi's wife Elly Kusneli left her house with her eight-month-old child, Erica Pricilia.
When Elly was out of sight, Philipus and his group entered the house, Saleh said.
Then Philipus and the three young suspects, with the help of his wife Suparmi brutally stabbed Rohadi's children Gilang M. Fauzi, 8, Citra Utami, 4, and Rizky Wahyu Ramadhan, 3, Saleh said in his indictment.
"As Elly opened the door to her house with Erika in her arms, the suspects knocked her to the floor and stabbed her more than a dozen times," Saleh said.
Erica, who was tied by a shawl to her mother's neck, survived.
According to the prosecutor, the defendants are charged with premeditated murder which violates article 340 and 55 of the Criminal Code.
They could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment if found guilty.
The court session which tried Philipus yesterday also heard testimonies from four witnesses, including Rohadi and his eldest daughter Mike, and Mike's friends, Nurhayati and Anna.
Rohadi said he was teaching at a junior high school in Cengkareng when the incident took place.
Mike and her classmate Nurhayati said that they found the victims dead when they got home from school.
The trial was adjourned until Feb. 6. (29)