P

rosecutors in the case of five Citibank debt collectors standing trial for allegedly causing the death of small-time politician, Irzen Octa, have charged the defendants with a minor crime.

Defendants in the trial, Boy Yanto Tambunan, Arief Lukman, Donal Haria, Hendri Waslinton and Humizar Silalahi have all been charged with restricting the freedom of Octa, a crime punishable by 12 years
in prison.

In the indictment read out during the first hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday, the chief prosecutor in the case, Nirwan Nawawi, said that Boy and Humizar were responsible for summoning Octa to the Citibank branch in the Jamsostek tower on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, on March 20, the day the bank client died.

Nirwan said that both Boy and Humizar had allegedly violated Articles 333 and 351 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) in relation to restricting the freedom of others.

Nirwan said that the other three suspects, Arief, Donal and Hendri, only posed questions when summoning Octa to the Cleo room in the building, which is regularly used by debt collectors to discuss debt settlement with clients.

The indictment said that Arief had told Octa to sit in a corner of the room, while the other debt collectors sat very close to Octa, making it impossible for the Citibank client to leave the room.

“The suspects forbade Octa to leave the room and because of this the victim developed a headache and asked permission to rest, but Donal refused to allow him,” Nirwan said.

Octa’s family lawyer, O.C. Kaligis, said that an investigation should be launched against the prosecutors for delivering what he called an “illogical” prosecution.

“It is obvious that the defendants could be guilty of violating Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder. The prosecutor must be investigated,” Kaligis told The Jakarta Post.

Kaligis also said that prosecutors had turned a blind eye to evidence in the case. “There were bruises all over his [Octa’s] body. How in the world could this be considered restriction of freedom?” he said.

Kaligis said that his team would press ahead with its fight against Citibank.

In March this year, Octa, a Citibank credit card customer, went to a Citibank branch to complain about his reportedly inflated credit card bill. He was allegedly interrogated by debt collectors and collapsed. He died shortly after.

In a statement made available to the Post on Monday, Citibank Indonesia reiterated that an internal investigation had found no indication of foul play in connection to the death of Octa.

“We have taken measures to improve our internal monitoring process, including by hiring 1,400 in-house staff members,” said Mona Monika, Citibank’s assistant vice president of corporate affairs.