Prosecutor delays Robot's trial

Prosecutor delays Robot's trial

JAKARTA (JP): The murder and sodomy trial of alleged pedophile Siswanto, alias Robot Gedek, was postponed until next week to give the state prosecutor time to prepare his concluding statement.

Prosecutor Suriansah told the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday that technical problems had prevented him from finishing his request for sentence.

The court agreed to postpone it until May 6.

The prosecutor has charged Robot, 33, with first sodomizing and then killing six boys aged between 11 and 15 years.

"I need more time to prepare my statement because there are 28 testimonies and a lot of material evidence to consider," he said.

Outside the courtroom, Robot's lawyers Febry Irmansyah and Nadjab Khan said the court had denied their request to have a psychiatrist examine their client.

"The judges told us that Robot was well and sane enough to be responsible for his crimes," Febry said.

He said the judges had decided that Robot could communicate well in court and did not sound mentally disturbed.

But having an expert witness was crucial because it could reduce the defendant's sentence, said Febry.

"If he is found to be insane he can be freed from all charges as stipulated in Section 44 of the Criminal Code," Febry said.

None of the witnesses's statements nor the material evidence supported the charges, said Febry.

"The prosecutor's indictment was based only on the defendant's confession," he said.

The police say Robot confessed to killing 12 boys when they arrested him last August. (12)