Suspects proclaim their innocence

JAKARTA (JP): Suspects in a murder case protested their innocence to the East Jakarta district court here yesterday.

"I am just an ordinary, uneducated house-wife who can't even speak very well. But I have been telling you the truth. My family and I did not murder the Rohadis," Suparmi, one of the suspects, said, reading her hand-written defense out between sobs.

On Oct. 2, a woman and three children, were brutally murdered in their home in the Bambu Apus sub-district of East Jakarta. The woman was the wife of Rohadi, a senior high school teacher.

Five suspects, including Suparmi, her husband Philipus and three children are being tried in separate court hearings.

Last Monday, prosecutors demanded that Suparmi and Philipus be sentenced to death.

"I was shocked to hear the prosecutors' cruel statement; I hardly ever quarreled with my neighbors," Suparmi said.

Guilt

Several points were raised by Suparmi's lawyers, including the prosecutors' persistent assumption of guilt.

"Indictment should be based on what has been revealed and proven in court, not elsewhere," Suparmi's lawyer said, referring to the suspects' retraction of earlier statements allegedly made under duress.

Three lawyers took turns reading the 133-page document and raised several points they considered awkward, such as the question of material evidence collected on Oct. 17, nine days after the suspect's house was destroyed by a mob on Oct. 8.

Lawyers also said that some evidence wasn't presented in court at all, such as the results of forensic tests on the door-knob, the refrigerator and some blood-stained coins found at a public phone near the site of the crime.

"It is our duty to find the absolute truth," the lawyer said.

In a separate closed hearing, the three minors, who are facing 18 years in jail, also told the team of judges led by Farida Achmad that they were innocent.

"Us being children, we find it horrifying enough to imagine intestines hanging out, let alone to actually commit the murder," they said.

Court was adjourned until next Monday. (14)