Prosecutors challenge lenient punishment for cop

Tangerang prosecutor’s office will appeal to the Supreme Court the Banten High Court’s decision to let former Tangerang police detective chief Comr. Dewa Wijaya walk free despite his conviction in an illegal weapon possession case.

Irfan Jaya, head of general crime section at Tangerang prosecutor’s office, said Tuesday the police officer had committed a serious crime and therefore deserved a jail term.

Wijaya was sentenced to 10 months in jail by the Tangerang District Court for violating Article 1 of the 1951 emergency law. The prosecutors had demanded 18 months of imprisonment for the officer.

The Banten High Court upheld the district court’s verdict but sentenced Wijaya to only 10 months in suspended jail term with 18 months of probation.

Irfan said the verdict defied the public’s sense of justice, as no one else who was convicted of violating the emergency law escaped imprisonment.

Wijaya was arrested on Dec. 19 last year following a report filed by notary Niniek Sri Rejeki against the police officer after he threatened her assistant at gunpoint.