Three-year jail term sought for alleged abortionist
JAKARTA (JP): A prosecutor asked the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday to sentence a clinic owner to three years in jail and fine her Rp 3 million for overseeing illegal abortions.
Prosecutor Yunan Harjoko told the court that Kurniasih alias Cicih, 51, the owner of Amalia clinic in Tanah Tinggi, was involved in the abortion of an average of 10 babies and fetuses a day since 1995 until she was arrested last December.
According to Yunan, Cicih has been proved guilty, along with two doctors, identified as Budiman and Jaya Lelana, in the illegal medical practice.
The mother of one had even admitted to all the charges, he said.
"The defendant had given a bad example for the public and smeared the country's medical community by conducting the illegal abortions," Yunan told the court.
He said the defendant examined patients and decided the price for the abortion before it was performed by the doctors.
She charged clients between Rp 300,000 and Rp 750,000 each, depending on the term of their pregnancies, he said.
The defendant is one of the 13 suspects in illegal abortion practices which hit the headlines late last year.
The suspects were apprehended by police following the discovery of 11 babies and fetuses wrapped in plastic bags in a garbage dump in Warakas, North Jakarta, last November.
Following the arrest, police also found 10 babies' bones and the skeleton of an infant buried in eight different holes in the backyard of a school for disabled children on Jl. Arief Rachman Hakim 5B, also in Central Jakarta.
After a series of investigations, police determined the fetuses and remains from the Amalia and Herlina clinics.
One of Cicih's partners, Budiman, is also on trial at the same court. A prosecutor will make the sentencing demand for Budiman Friday.
Jaya, the other doctor, is a military doctor and will be tried by a military tribunal.
Prosecutor Yunan said yesterday Cicih had violated Article 15 (1) of Health Law No. 23/1992.
He also asked the court to seize medical equipment used in the illegal abortions.
Shortly after Yunan finished reading his demand statement, a speechless Cicih was racked by sobs.
Presiding judge Endang Sumarsih adjourned the trial until next week to hear the defendant's plea.
In a separate room in the same court yesterday, four employees of the two clinics demanded the court set them free, arguing that they were only employees and had nothing to do with the illegal practice.
Prosecutor Sinta Sasanti asked the court last week to sentence the four defendants to two years in jail each for their involvement in the abortion practice. (jun)