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)