T

he panel of judges at the II-11 Yogyakarta Military Court, hearing the case surrounding the execution-style killings of four detainees at Cebongan Penitentiary in Sleman, decided on Friday that the trial should continue.

This means the judges rejected the objections presented by defense lawyers of the 12 defendants, who are members of the Army'€™s Special Forces (Kopassus) Group 2, and accepted military prosecutors'€™ responses to the objections.

'€œThe next hearing will examine the witnesses. It will be held on Tuesday,'€ presiding judge Lt. Col. Djoko Sasmito said on Friday.

The judge was reading out an interlocutory verdict for the three main defendants: second sergeants Ucok Tigor Simbolon and Sugeng Sumaryanto and first Cpl. Kodik.

Djoko said if the defense lawyers still had objections, they were welcome to convey their sentiments in their defense statements.

Responding to the decision, lead military prosecutor Lt. Col. Budiharto said he was ready to call his witnesses on Tuesday.

'€œWe want to present three witnesses, namely B. Sukamto Harto, Indrawan Tri Widianto and Supratiknyo,'€ Budiharto said.

Separately, Col. Rokhmad, the leader of the defense legal team, said he would accept the decision and follow the prevailing procedures.

Friday'€™s hearing lasted for about an hour. Djoko said the panel of judges disagreed with claims that the prosecutors'€™ charge of premeditated murder was blurred and lacked details.

'€œAccording to Article 130 [2] a and b of Law No. 31/1997, details on the chronology of the planning was not part of the objection material but the proofing one,'€ Djoko said.

The judges also rejected objections about the legality of the prosecution'€™s charges, which was said to not be in accordance with the police and military police investigations.

The same decision was also made by the other panels of judges hearing the other nine defendants'€™ cases.

Meanwhile, the Yogyakarta regional office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Rusdianto, said that his office had yet to be summoned in relation to the case.

'€œIf the witnesses are prison employees, they are prepared to come to court,'€ he said.

Similarly, Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) spokeswoman Maharani said her office had not yet received a summons from the military prosecutors, but the LPSK was prepared to connect witnesses at the penitentiary with the military court'€™s proceedings via video link.

'€œWe tried it out yesterday [Thursday]. It'€™s ready,'€ she said on Friday.

'€œOf the two judges, one has agreed to the use of video link for the witness examination,'€ said Maharani.

Each panel of judges is in charge of two out of four case dossiers.

Ridwan Mansyur, Supreme Court spokesman, said his attendance was a signal to the media and public that the proceedings were transparent.

'€œIf you want to have the dossiers and other documents, you are welcome to contact the information media division,'€ he said.