Prosecutor seeks eight months for student

JAKARTA (JP): A prosecutor yesterday demanded an eight-month prison sentence for a student accused of assaulting a policeman during a demonstration in Jakarta in June.

Prosecutor Tony Spontana reminded the Central Jakarta District Court that three witnesses had testified that they saw the 19- year-old student throwing a brick at the officer.

The prosecutor invoked Article 213 (1) of the Criminal Code which says that anyone who assaults a government official is liable for up to five years imprisonment.

The suspect, a student at the Jakarta Institute of Social and Political Science, was arrested during clashes between police and some 100 students who were staging a demonstration at the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) office in Jl. Diponegoro on June 4.

The demonstration, to show solidarity with fellow students killed in Ujungpandang during clashes with troops in April, turned violent when police officers tried to seize the students' banners. Amin was one of six demonstrators arrested.

Prosecutor Tony said the brick hit officer Armi Guntoro in the forehead, which required four centimeters of stitching.

Armi and two other police officers on duty at the time testified against the student.

The prosecutor urged the court to ignore the testimony of the defendant's two witnesses because they did not see the assault.

"We doubt their testimony," the prosecutor said, referring to the testimony of Hendardi and Nely Irianti, both from YLBHI.

Presiding judge Asmar Ismail adjourned the case until next Friday to hear the closing arguments of the defendant and his lawyers.

The student is represented by lawyers Trimedya Panjaitan and Yulius Susanto Cung of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute. (16)