Upset defendant kicks chair over in courtroom
Upset defendant kicks chair over in courtroom
JAKARTA (JP): A law student from the Indonesian Christian
University (UKI) on trial charged with kidnapping a police
officer expressed his anger at the court on Wednesday by kicking
his chair over.
Defendant Edward Taurus Benyamin Karo-karo asked judge
Samsoedin A.B. to change the date of the resumption of his trial
next week so it would not fall on Wednesday, which is visiting
day at the detention center he is held at. Edward could no longer
hold back his anger when the judge repeatedly refused to alter
his decision and knocked his gavel to close the trial at the
South Jakarta District Court.
Edward rose from the defendant's chair and kicked it. The
aluminum chair fell onto the floor in front of him. The gallery
appeared stunned.
The nine lawyers from the Indonesian Student Movement Lawyer
Team rushed to their client and calmed him.
Supporters of the defendant from the City Forum hugged him,
and some were seen crying.
The judge appeared not to want to overreact to the outburst,
which could be said to be in contempt of court.
Samsoedin said he did not see the defendant's act as unusual
and dishonoring to the court as the defendant was "a young man
and emotional".
"I'm also not angry and would not take revenge against him. He
is just emotional," he said.
Before the trial was closed to hear the judge's provisional
decision, Edward asked Samsoedin to reschedule the next session
of his trial to a day other than Wednesday, saying that is the
day when relatives of political prisoners at Cipinang prison,
where he is currently detained, are allowed to visit.
But Samsoedin refused to grant the defendant's request, saying
the court had a tight schedule.
"We'll ask the detention officials to let your relatives visit
you on other days. However, you are not a political detainee here
(in the court)," he said.
The judge and the defendant carried on a heated argument over
the trial scheduling for about 15 minutes.
Dozens of Edward's supporters in the courtroom booed the judge
as he refused to reschedule the trial with a knock of his gavel
to close the session.
One of the supporters yelled at Samsoedin that the judge was
part of the New Order regime.
Regretted
One of Edward's lawyers, Sonny Warsito, regretted the judge's
decision, saying Samsoedin was overly authoritative and
discriminated against his client.
"It's not difficult to change the day of the trial from
Wednesday to another day," Sonny said.
Edward also seemed disappointed with the judge's decision to
reject his lawyers' response to the indictment.
After opening the trial, Samsoedin said in his provisional
decision that the indictment statement was clear and accurate.
"The court agreed with the prosecutors' statement. So the
trial should continue to examine the content of the indictment,"
he said.
The prosecutors allege in the indictment that Edward, along
with three fellow students, abducted Sgt. Maj. Suratman while he
was photographing a student street rally on Jl. Gatot Subroto on
Nov. 27 last year.
Two of the three students were identified as Rudy Pahala
Simatupang and Alex Situmeang. Rudy has been cleared of
involvement, while Alex and the unidentified student remains at
large.
The defendant and his friends took the victim to the UKI
campus in Cawang, East Jakarta, at about 8 p.m., according to the
indictment.
After tying the victim's hands and blindfolding him, the
defendant then allegedly took Suratman to the Nusantara Economic
Institute on Jl. Panjaitan in East Jakarta.
Suratman, a South Jakarta Police intelligence officer, was
later dumped on a street in the Cawang area.
Edward was charged under Article 328 and Article 333 (1) of
the Criminal Code, which carry maximum punishments of 12 years in
jail and eight years in jail respectively. (jun)