A defendant in the Nasruddin murder case said he wanted to withdraw from murder plan, but was told he would be killed if he did, a hearing revealed Wednesday.
Juan Felix Tampubolon, who led a team of lawyers for, among others, Heri Santosa, one of the alleged murderers of Nasruddin, told judges at the Tangerang District Court that his client's life would have been in danger if he had abandoned the plan.
"Heri Santosa stated that he would withdraw from the plan, but Henrikus *Kia Walen* told him that he already knew about the plan and therefore could not withdraw. If he had withdrawn from the plan, he would have been murdered by the mastermind," he said.
The lawyer did not mention who the mastermind was, but the police have detained the former chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission, Antasari Azhar, for allegedly plotting the murder.
The team said Henrikus, another defendant represented by the same team, received the same threat from another defendant, Eduardus Ndopo Bete or Edo, vivanews.com reported.
On Wednesday the court held five hearings for five defendants accused of being involved in the murder of Nasruddin Zulkarnaen. The defendants included: Heri, Henrikus, Edo, Daniel Daen and Fransiscus Tadin Keran.
Juan Felix's team defended Heri, Henrikus and Daniel, while Minola Sebayang represented Fransiscus and Fadil Juwait defended Edo.
The three lawyers all asked the court to drop the charges, arguing the district court did not have the authority to hear the case.
"We request the district court declare that it is not authorized to hear the case, based on the sequence of the murder that began in South Jakarta and was carried out in other districts," Juan Felix told the hearing.
The panel of judges postponed the trial to hear from the prosecutors next Wednesday.
Tangerang Police deployed hundreds of officers to guard the murder trial of Nasruddin, the former director of the state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran, in a drive-by shooting on March 14 at Modernland housing estate in Tangerang.
