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Defendant admits attacking man at prayer
Abdul Kholiq, a defendant in a religious violence case being tried at Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta, admitted on Monday that he beat an individual at the house of Julius Felicianus in Ngaglik, Sleman, when the latter was hosting a rosary prayer last May
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bdul Kholiq, a defendant in a religious violence case being tried at Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta, admitted on Monday that he beat an individual at the house of Julius Felicianus in Ngaglik, Sleman, when the latter was hosting a rosary prayer last May.
'I cried out, 'Is this a house or a church, go on!' And I beat someone until he fell down,' Kholiq, a caretaker of the Ihya As-Sunnah Islamic boarding school told the court on Monday.
He was responding to the reading of the dossiers of four witnesses by prosecutors at the court. The four witnesses, none of whom attended the trial hearing, were Julius' son Hendricus Subandono, Nur Wahid and two intelligence agents of the Yogyakarta provincial police: Yohanes Winardi and Ari Susilo Wardani.
In his dossier, Yohanes said he witnessed Abdul beating Julius. Presiding judge Marliyus said Abdul's statement confirmed witness testimony.
Also presented as witnesses at Monday's trial hearing were five people at the prayer when the attack was committed. They were Laskar Lumban Raja, Cornelia Puji Listyowati, Y. Supriyadi, Maria Imaculata and Emi Tranggani. However, none of the witnesses could confirm that it was Abdul who attacked and beat Julius and Nur Wahid.
'I am not sure because it was a bit dark outside the house,' Laskar said.
A Catholic priest, Aloysius Kris Winarto of Kudus Banteng Church in Sleman, was also presented as a witness to explain the nature of the Rosary prayer that Catholics performed between May and October.
Aloysius said that there had been a peaceful agreement struck between Julius and Abdul during a meeting held at the official residence of the Sleman regent on August 15, 2014. Aloysius was at the meeting to represent Julius.
The defendant's team of lawyers asked the witnesses if the rosary prayer was conducted with the permission of the local neighboring unit and if the prayers used loudspeakers.
The lawyers also asked whether the worshippers parked their motorcycles on the public road and if they stayed at Julius' house until late at night. The defendant's team of lawyers also expressed disappointment about the prosecutors' decision not to present the victims as witnesses.
'We will convey this [disappointment] in our defense statements,' said Suraji, a member of the legal team. The trial was adjourned until next week, when defendant witness testimony will begin.
