Security guards jailed for slaying Marsinah

Security guards jailed for slaying Marsinah

JAKARTA (JP): Two security guards were sentenced yesterday to
12 years in prison each for their roles in the brutal murder of
labor activist Marsinah last year.

The Surabaya District Court found Suwono, 49, and Suprapto,
23, both employees of PT Catur Putra Surya, the watch company
where Marsinah worked, guilty of killing the woman together with
several other men.

Four people have now been sentenced to jail in connection with
the murder. Three received 12 years while the other got seven
months. The verdict against the two men was a year lighter than
that sought by the prosecutors.

Both Suwono and Suprapto quickly rejected the verdict and
stated they would appeal it, the Antara news agency reported.

"I never felt that I did it, so I don't accept this
punishment. I am lodging an appeal," said Suwono immediately
after Judge Musthafa Muhammad read the verdict.

The defendants' lawyers confirmed that they would appeal.

The court ruled that both defendants kidnapped the 24-year-old
Marsinah, locked her in a house against her will, and tortured
her to death.

The two men carried out the murder at the behest of Yudi
Susanto, the company's director and the main defendant in the
murder trials.

The order was issued in connection with the Marsinah-led
strike by the company's workers demanding better working
conditions.

Marsinah's mutilated body was found in Nganjuk on May 9 last
year, five days after the strike.

The prosecutor's case was supported by the testimonies of
Yudi's two maids who told the court that they saw the defendants
and some other men carrying Marsinah's body into the house.

Another witness, Capt. Kusaeri, former chief of Porong
district military command testified that he saw Suprapto take a
woman, who was later found to be Marsinah, for a motorcycle ride
on the night she was last seen. (par)