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Antasari to be charged with premeditated murder today

After months of trials filled with surprise after surprise, prosecutors will read Tuesday their indictment against Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) former chairman Antasari Azhar

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Tue, January 19, 2010

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Antasari to be charged with premeditated murder today

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fter months of trials filled with surprise after surprise, prosecutors will read Tuesday their indictment against Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) former chairman Antasari Azhar.

Antasari is accused of masterminding the murder of state-company executive Nasruddin Zulkarnain last year.

Prosecutors have indicated during the trials that they would charge the former chairman of the antigraft body with premeditated murder.

“We will read our indictment tomorrow,” chief prosecutor Cyrus Sinaga said Monday.

He said the prosecutors would also read the indictment of three other defendants in the murder case, Sr. Comr. Williardi Wizard, businessman Sigid Haryo Wibisono and Jerry Hermawan Lo.

The four executors of the murder have been sentenced from 16 to 18 years jail term in separate trials.

However, many observers have said that linking the executors with Williardi, Sigid and Jerry was not easy, while connecting the executors with Antasari was harder as the previous hearings presented many surprises.

In Williardi’s testimony, he said he was forced by then deputy chief detective Insp. Gen. Hadiatmoko, to testify that he was ordered by Antasari to murder Nasruddin.

According to Williardi, this false testimony was aimed at dragging Antasari to prison. However, Williardi’s testimony was then denied by Hadiatmoko, who was also summoned to the hearing.

Public speculation that Antasari might have been framed emerged, and that his arrest was an attempt to weaken the KPK, which has reportedly drawn enemies after it arrested numerous high-ranking officials including mayors, governors, legislators and ministers, including Aulia Pohan, the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s son.   

Others suggested that Antasari was arrested to halt the KPK investigation into alleged fraud at the General Election Commission, which reportedly could have affected Yudhoyono’s recent victory in the presidential race.

Hadiatmoko claimed he had not ordered Williardi to admit to the murder. He also said he had no interest in the case.

Former police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, however, testified that Hadiatmoko headed the team overseeing investigations into Antasari’s case.

Other suspicious issues surrounding the case concerned the condition of Nasruddin’s body and the weapon that was allegedly used to kill him.

Forensics expert Mun’im Idris testified that the body had been tampered to satisfy certain conditions required by the police.

Mun’im also said he was forced by a police officer not to fill in the section of the report on the cause of death, asking the caliber of the bullet  that shot the victim.

Earlier, ballistics expert A. Simanjuntak said the bullets presented in the trial had not matched the gun allegedly used to kill Nasruddin.

Mun’im had also said that judging by his Nasruddin’s bullet wounds and considering the caliber of the bullets reportedly used, the murderer must have shot him from a fair distance because the bullets did not pass through the body.

The police and prosecutors have refuted all these allegations.

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