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Wrongful arrest victim compensated only Rp 1m
Krisbayudi, a 29-year-old man wrongfully arrested for premeditated murder, is planning to appeal to the Jakarta High Court after the North Jakarta District Court ordered the state to pay him just Rp 1 million (US$83
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risbayudi, a 29-year-old man wrongfully arrested for premeditated murder, is planning to appeal to the Jakarta High Court after the North Jakarta District Court ordered the state to pay him just Rp 1 million (US$83.72) in compensation.
Jecky Tengens, a lawyer from the Mawar Saron Legal Aid Institute representing Krisbayudi, said on Wednesday that his team would appeal to the court as the compensation awarded to his client was far from sufficient to compensate for the wrongful arrest, conviction and eight-month detention.
'Besides losing his freedom for eight months, Krisbayudi, who was a worker at a car seat factory, is now struggling to find a new job, as the stigma of murder is still attached to him,' Jecky said.
He also alleged that his client was tortured during the police interrogation and detention period.
A panel of judges at the North Jakarta District Court ruled to accept Krisbayudi's civilian lawsuit on Sept. 15., ordering the state to pay him Rp 1 million according to Government Regulation No. 27/1983 on the implementation of the Criminal Code.
'The amount currently due is too little,' Jecky insisted.
According to Jecky, after calculating the material and non-material losses suffered by Krisbayudi during his eight-month detention, the lawyer and his client had demanded the state pay Rp 250 million in compensation.
'We will request the same amount in the appeal,' he said, adding that he had filed the lawsuit against the Jakarta Police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO).
Krisbayudi filed the civilian lawsuit after the Supreme Court accepted his appeal on April 30, 2013, ruling that he was not guilty of the murder charge.
The case began in 2012 when Krisbayudi and his friend Rachmat Awifi, 26, were arrested for suspected involvement in the premeditated murder of 36-year-old Hertati and her 6-year-old daughter Eryanti Sari.
When questioned by police, Rahmat claimed that Krisbayudi had helped him murder the two victims.
'Based on Rahmat's testimony, the police arrested Krisbayudi at his house,' Jecky said.
He claimed that Krisbayudi, who was not accompanied by a lawyer during the questioning, was forced to confess to the charges after being tortured by police.
- Compensation awarded to Krisbayudi far from sufficient to compensate for wrongful conviction
- Compensation awarded has fails to bring about justice
Jecky added that Krisbayudi's mother went to his office to look for legal assistance only after realizing that her son had been detained following the interrogation.
'Krisbayudi retracted his confession in the dossier [BAP] after consulting us,' he said.
Krisbayudi was acquitted of the charges after Rahmat confessed during his trial that he had killed the two victims alone. Rahmat was sentenced to death.
Krisbayudi subsequently filed a civilian lawsuit against the city police and the state prosecutor to seek fair compensation for his wrongful arrest, torture and eight-month detention.
Jecky said that Mawar Saron would furthermore bring the government regulation in question to the Supreme Court for review, as the maximum compensation was 'out-of-date'.
'The compensation awarded has failed to bring about justice,' he said, adding that the police should also prosecute the personnel who wrongly arrested his client.
Jakarta Police chief detective Sr. Comr. Heru Pranoto told The Jakarta Post that they were still reviewing the case and the Supreme Court's verdict.
'We are still looking into it; we also only heard the news earlier today,' he said.
Incidents of wrongful arrest have occurred on a number of occasions. In 2008, the panel of judges at the Jombang District Court in East Java indicted three men ' Imam Chambali, Devid Eko Priyanto and Maman Sugianto ' for the murder of Muhammad Asrori. It later emerged that Muhammad was a victim of serial killer Very Idham Henyansyah alias Ryan.
In 2002, a man named Budi and his mother, along with their housemaid, were forced by Bekasi police to admit to the murder of Budi's father.
They were several months later acquitted of all charges after the police caught the real murderer. (fss)
