Trisakti defense team meets with defendants
JAKARTA (JP): The defense team in the Trisakti court-martial met with the two police officers on trial at Jakarta Military Police Headquarters in Guntur, South Jakarta.
"This meeting is very important because we are responsible to give advice, support and guide the defendants. It is their right to be protected, and it is our job to do so," the leader of the defense team, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said.
After a one-and-a-half-hour briefing at city police headquarters, the defense lawyers headed to Guntur for their meeting with the two defendants at about 11 p.m.
The lawyers -- Otto Hasibuan, Denny Kailimang, Hotman Paris Hutapea, Rudhy A. Lontoh and Hotma Sitompul -- were greeted by Jakarta Military Police Commander Col. Hendardji.
Buyung said the meeting touched on significant testimony from the two police officers -- company commander First Lt. Agus Tri Heryanto, 29, and platoon leader Second Lt. Pariyo, 38, both from Jakarta Police Mobile Brigade -- about their whereabouts and what occurred during the incident.
"We don't have much time to consult with the two defendants. We have to be ready for Monday's trial session. Hopefully we can reveal the truth," Buyung added.
Buyung stood by earlier statements that the trial was being engineered.
"Why do I say this? Because the prosecutors' indictment letter stated that the two officers were responsible for their undisciplined conduct which led to the deaths of four Trisakti students.
"The fact is we haven't even found the real shooters here. We don't know for sure whether the shooters are among the two officers' subordinates. What if the shooters are not members of their squads?" Buyung explained.
Today's hearing is scheduled to cross-examine 10 witnesses, with West Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Timur Pradopo being the first witness to appear.
"I'm fine. I just pray to God to give me the strength to go on," Timur told The Jakarta Post at city police headquarters.
Before the meeting in Guntur, one of the two defendants, Agus Tri Heryanto, got a chance to speak to the media to talk about his feelings concerning the case.
"I was shocked when I was named as one of the suspects. I was only armed with a shield (when the incident took place) but they said that my actions caused the death of four people. That's absurd.
"I did the best I could in my duties. My hope is that I can walk a free man," said the father of a five-day-old baby boy named Fierlian Rifqi Heriyanto.
He revealed that when the incident took place, only 18 of the 98 officers under his command were armed with SS-1 weapons. "And they had only three blank bullets and 12 rubber bullets."
Agus said he had not yet been able to meet his wife, Ary Susiani, since she had their baby. "My boy is currently in Bandung. I miss them ... but what can I do?"
Pariyo, the other defendant, talked about how he felt with his lawyers, saying he was ready to face the trial and its consequences, but could not hide the depressed look on his face.
"They feed me three times a day. I'm OK. I accept this as God's will," he whispered.
The two defendants admitted that investigators did not use violence during questioning and that they were able to communicate with the other suspects in detention.
Investigation
Hendardji said that the 21 weapons -- SS-1s and Steyr AUG-Ps -- submitted to the National Police Forensic Laboratory were currently undergoing ballistic tests.
"The worst possibility is that none of the weapons match with the live bullet taken from Heri Hartanto's body (one of the four dead students). We will know that within a week.
"If that's so, it means that I have to order all squads involved in the incident to submit their weapons, and run ballistic tests on the more than 100 guns used there," Hendardji said, adding that the investigation was currently leading to the main suspect of the fatal shootings.
When asked about the fact that all the suspects in the Trisakti case were police officers and that it appeared discriminatory since military personnel were at the scene, he said that the investigation was fair.
"I have investigated all commanders in the field from all squads. There were eight companies involved: four companies from the police, namely the Mobile Brigade and City Police, and the other four from the army, namely the Jakarta Military Command and Army Strategic Reserves Command.
"But none of the army members were involved since they stayed in their position. It was the police who conducted the shootings and they went ahead toward Trisakti area," he said.
Therefore, the investigation is focused on the police, he told the Post, adding that there was an army squad, the City Infantry Regiment, which came to the Trisakti area. "But it was between noon and 1 p.m. on May 12, way before the clash broke out."
Some 32 students have been questioned to gain more information about the incident. "But so far only one will be present as a witness," Hendardji said. (edt)