Suspected killer of Marsinah faces 20 years

JAKARTA (JP): Government prosecutors are demanding 20 years imprisonment for the businessman who they believe masterminded the murder of labor activist Marsinah in May of last year.

Lawyers defending Yudi Susanto however say they plan to contest the accusation and will seek no less than an acquittal because their client is innocent.

The prosecutors on Thursday urged the Surabaya District Court to find Yudi guilty of conspiring to murder Marsinah, an employee of Citra Putra Surya, a watchmaking company owned by Yudi.

The victim had led a workers strike at the plant days before she was found brutally murdered on May 9, 1993.

They said that Yudi planned the murder in collaboration with a number of other company executives and staff.

Lawyer Trimoelya D. Soerjadi told The Jakarta Post on Friday that all the accusations against his client were baseless.

The prosecution's evidence is flimsy, according to Trimoelya. He stressed that his client has been made a scapegoat for a murder committed by somebody else.

Six other people have been convicted for their involvement in the murder. One woman, the personnel manager, got seven months. Two others got 12 years and the other three got 13 years imprisonment each.

Prosecutions have also demanded 15 years imprisonment for both of the other two defendants. (rms)