In a final defense, lawyers for former antigraft leader Antasari Azhar, the main suspect in the high-profile murder of businessman Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, insisted their client was not guilty.
Mohammad Assegaf, one of Antasari's lawyers, repeated the argument that witnesses and evidence presented to the court had been more than enough to prove a conspiracy behind the case.
"The conspiracy in this case is just like a nasty soap opera performed by an ugly cast," Assegaf told the South Jakarta District Court.
The indications of the conspiracy, Assegaf said, included separate attempts by Sigid Haryo Wibisono, another defendant in the case, and Rhani Juliani, the victim's third wife, to record their conversations with Antasari.
"If Nasruddin had no bad intentions, why did he insist on accompanying Rhani to meet Antasari at the hotel and tell her to keep her cell phone active when having a conversation with Antasari?" he said.
Nasruddin, a director of state pharmaceutical company PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran, was killed in March last year in a drive-by shooting close to the Modernland golf course in Tangerang.
In their indictment, prosecutors said Nasruddin had caught Antasari, the former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief, in flagrante delicto with Rhani in a hotel room in South Jakarta.
Prosecutors said Nasruddin then used the incident at the hotel as leverage to blackmail Antasari and requested him to help him advance his position in the company.
According to prosecutors, this was the main motive for Antasari to have Nasruddin killed.
Antasari was allegedly supported by businessman Jerry Hermawan Lo and former South Jakarta Police Sr. Comr. Williardi Wizard, who allegedly arranged the recruitment of the hit men, and Sigid, a media tycoon who allegedly provided the financial backing.
State prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Jerry and the death penalty for Sigid, Williardi and Antasari.
However, defense lawyers pointed out discrepancies during the investigation.
"The police began questioning the defendant on May 4, but the prosecutors had already completed a dossier explaining the case findings on April 26," said Hotma Sitompul, another of Antasari's lawyers.
"Unless they are soothsayers, how did they do that?"
The police handling of Rhani, who is considered the key witness in the case, has also come under criticism from the defense lawyers, who called it overly protective.
"Why didn't the prosecutors entrust Rhani to the Witness and Victims Protection Agency *LPSK*?," said Maqdir Ismail, another defense lawyer.
"Were they afraid that Rhani would mess up their plot and reveal the real mastermind behind this case?"
The court is scheduled to announce verdicts on all four defendants on Feb. 11.
