The trial must go on: Military prosecutors
The trial must go on: Military prosecutors
JAKARTA (JP): The trial of 11 elite soldiers charged with
abducting political activists last year reopened on Tuesday, with
the military prosecutors rebutting defense arguments that the
court was not qualified to try the defendants.
In the second session on Dec. 31, the defense lawyers had
argued the charges against the members of the Army's Special
Force (Kopassus) -- a major, seven captains and three sergeants
-- should be dropped because prosecution failed to differentiate
between "deprivation of freedom" and "kidnapping".
"It is possible that within one criminal act, violations of
law could result in two criminal charges," military prosecutor
Harom Widjaya told the Jakarta Military Court in Klender, East
Jakarta.
Article 328 of the Criminal Code stipulates that kidnapping
carries a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment while article
333 stipulates that depriving a person of his/her freedom carries
a penalty of up to eight years.
The courtroom, which was packed in the opening session on Dec.
23, was half empty on Tuesday. The parents of some of the 13
activists who were allegedly abducted attended the session.
Harom also rebutted the defense lawyers' arguments that the
Jakarta Military Court had no jurisdiction in the case because
one of the series of abductions was conducted in Lampung in
Sumatra.
Harom said the team of alleged kidnappers should be tried in
Jakarta because they conducted and planned most of their
operations in the city.
"The order to arrest the nine witnesses was given and planned
in Jakarta," Harom said, adding that the activists were also held
in detention in the city.
Kopassus was under the command of a son-in-law of former
president Soeharto, now-retired Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, at the
time of the kidnappings.
The elite troops were believed to be involved in the
kidnapping and torture of at least 23 activists early this year,
but the charges against the defendants only relate to the nine
who have since resurfaced.
The prosecution argument, that the 11 acted on their own
initiative out of desire to safeguard the country from subversive
elements, has been greeted with criticism by human rights
activists who have called the court-martial "a farce to protect
the top officers of the military and Soeharto".
Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto discharged Prabowo
from the military and released two other senior Kopassus officers
from active duty in August.
Presiding judge Col. Susanto adjourned Tuesday's hearing
without comment on the prosecution arguments. The trial is
scheduled to resume on Friday.
The prosecution asked that it be able to present five of the
kidnapping victims as witnesses on Friday, and listed them as Aan
Rusdianto, Mugianto, Feisol Reza, Pius Lustrilanang and Nezar
Patria. (byg)