Prosecutor seeks one year jail sentence for hapless kidnapper

BOGOR (JP): A prosecutor here has asked the local court to sentence a 20-year-old man to one year in jail for his alleged involvement in the abduction of two South Koreans earlier this year.

Prosecutor Rudianto said on Tuesday that the defendant, Okta Yudistira, alias Sarifudin, was complicit in holding Lee Hyun and Park Jeung-hoon hostage at his brother's house in Cinere, North Jakarta, on July 30.

He said the two Koreans were traveling in a blue taxi from Sunter in North Jakarta back to their home in Cinere in the early hours of the morning when they were kidnapped by the defendant's brother Safuan and four accomplices.

"A few minutes after leaving Sunter, the cab was stopped by a white taxi driven by Safuan. There were four other men in the white taxi who have since been identified as Ediranto, Win, Nurida and Sarmadi," the prosecutor said, adding that all five were still at large.

Ediranto and Win then got into the Koreans' taxi and forced the driver to follow behind Safuan in the white taxi, Rudianto told the court.

"Ediranto and Win held the two victims at knife point and forced them to hand over all their belongings," he said.

The two robbers took Rp 300,000 in cash and a passport from Lee Hyun and a 10-gram ring, a wristwatch, shoes, trousers and five credit cards belonging to Jeung Hoon, he added.

"At the Pondok Gede toll gate, the white taxi stopped and the blue taxi followed suit. The two Koreans were then manhandled into the white taxi, which sped off back to Cinere," Rudianto said.

The gang headed straight to Safuan's rented house, where Sarifudin also lived, and bound and gagged the two Koreans.

The defendant claimed his brother then forced him to guard the two captives while the gang attempted to withdraw money using Jeung Hoon's credit cards.

"However, the defendant fell asleep and the two men managed to escape and went straight to a nearby police station to report the crime," the prosecutor said.

The court was adjourned until Monday. (24/bsr)