Tampubolon's sisters upset with court proceedings
Tampubolon's sisters upset with court proceedings
JAKARTA (JP): Hysterical wailings filled one of the East
Jakarta District Court rooms yesterday where the four suspected
killers of Brig. Gen. TMF. Tampubolon were being tried.
The desperate sounds came from the deceased's sisters after
they were allowed by presiding judge Soeroto to touch
Tampubolon's clothing during the break between the second and
third sessions.
Ria Tampubolon Sitorus and Maritje Tampubolon Simanjuntak
could not hold their anger and grief after they touched the
blood-stained and stinking black shirt and jeans.
"My God, how could this happen!" cried Maritje repeatedly,
while her older sister Ria touched and kissed the evidence.
After the court officer took them out of the court room, the
two sisters told The Jakarta Post hysterically that they are
dissatisfied with how the court has examined the suspects.
"It is impossible that my brother would respond to their
shouting. They must have forced him to stop his car. They must
have had a motive for killing my brother," Ria said.
The killing reportedly occurred after Tampubolon's car nearly
brushed the four defendants, who were heading home from a
billiard center. They shouted at Tampubolon, who turned his car
back to confront them. This escalated into a heated argument and
finally the killing.
According to the prosecution, the general suffered 11 stab
wounds, but still managed to drive to the nearest police
precinct. He was taken by First Cpl. Surana, the officer on duty,
to the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) hospital, where he
died 30 minutes later.
Both Ria and Maritje strongly opposed the court's stance that
the general was stabbed by the four killers after he turned the
car back to respond to their harsh shouting.
Ria said that she saw a stab mark on the right side of the
driver's seat, stressing that it indicated that her brother had
already been attacked before he got a chance to step out of his
car.
Maritje explained to the Post that all the deadly wounds
suffered by Tampubolon were on the right side of his body.
Strong indication
"How could a man who confronted his enemy outside his car
sustained wounds on the right side of his body?" she asked,
adding that some damage to the car gave strong indication that
the general's car was forced to a halt and that Tampubolon was
not the one who initiated the crime.
The sisters became even more outraged after the court rejected
their theory because the two witnesses, First Cpl. Surana and
Second Sgt. Eko Kurniawan, the two policemen who helped
Tampubolon at the police precinct, never mentioned the stab mark
in the driver's seat.
Eko Kurniawan, who later parked the car, testified that the
only visible "unnatural" conditions of the car were a damage to
the hood and the blood-drenched driver's seat.
"His blood was all over my body, even my underwear was soaked
with it," he said.
Prosecutor Saleh Abdurrahman said that the court proceedings
will only be based on the dossiers made by the police, which did
not mention any stab mark in the driver's seat.
The presiding judge also said that the court will continue
using the existing police dossiers as the court has judged that
the dossiers are valid. However he told the prosecutor to bring
Tampubolon's car to the next trial session on June 23 for further
examination.
Responding to the court's position, the Tampubolon sisters
planned to report the matter to the National Commission on Human
Rights.
The trial yesterday was divided into three sessions. The court
presented two accused killers, Hendrik Setyawan, 25, and Rusdi
Abdul Rahman, 24, in first session. The other suspects,
Risdiyanto, 25, and Lukman Achmad, 30, appeared in the second and
third sessions respectively.
The presiding judge used the three sessions to hear the
testimonies of First Cpl. Surana and Second Sgt. Eko
Kurniawan.
The trial was not attended by Tampubolon's wife or children.
(03)