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Suspects in Ade Sara murder case turn on each other

Two suspects who allegedly murdered 19-year-old Ade Sara Angelina Suroto blamed each other for the murder during their testimony at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Wed, October 22, 2014

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Suspects in Ade Sara murder case turn on each other

T

wo suspects who allegedly murdered 19-year-old Ade Sara Angelina Suroto blamed each other for the murder during their testimony at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.

One of the defendants, Assyifa Ramadhani, constantly wiped away tears with her blue handkerchief as she told judges that her boyfriend at the time and fellow suspect, Ahmad Imam Al Hafitd, had forced her into kidnapping and beating Sara.

'€œHafitd electrocuted Sara three times when she first entered the car. I tried to tell him to stop, but instead he commanded me to hit her too,'€ she stuttered, adding that she did not know he was going to electrocute Sara when they kidnapped her.

During her testimony, she admitted to pulling Sara'€™s hair, stuffing her mouth with tissue paper and beating Sara with her own shoes.

When the panel of judges asked why she had obeyed Hafitd'€™s commands, even though she knew her actions were wrong, Assyifa admitted that during their 11 months together as a couple, Hafitd had been violent toward her several times.

'€œHe even threatened me when we were being questioned at the Jakarta Police headquarters [South Jakarta]. He said I would end up like Sara if I said anything against him,'€ she said.

Previously, prosecutors indicted Hafitd and Assyifa under multiple articles of the Criminal Code, including Article 340, which stipulates a maximum 20 years imprisonment for premeditated murder.

The former couple allegedly picked up Sara, Hafitd'€™s ex-girlfriend, on her way to an extracurricular class at the Goethe-Institut in Central Jakarta before torturing her '€” gagging her, inflicting electric shocks and beating her for hours '€” in Hafitd'€™s car on March 3.

Assyifa told the judges that Hafitd had said he would kidnap Sara to please her, after Assyifa had showed him screenshots of a conversation between Sara and Hafitd a week before the incident.

She insisted she had asked to accompany Hafitd to ensure nothing bad happened, as she knew he was a violent person.

'€œI regret it,'€ she said, though she could not explain why.

The crowd, consisting of Sara'€™s relatives, jeered during Assyifa'€™s testimony and demanded that she tell the truth about her jealousy of Sara. Sara'€™s parents were tearfully silent throughout the testimony.

Separately, Hafitd denied that he was the only one that had planned Sara'€™s kidnapping.

'€œAssyifa was jealous and I wanted to make her happy, so we planned to kidnap and electrocute Sara together,'€ he admitted, adding that Assyifa had suggested kidnapping Sara on the way to her extracurricular class.

Hafitd added that he had electrocuted Sara first with the taser his mother had gave him.

He admitted to being overcome with frustration at the time, as he and Sara had broke off their relationship due to their different religious backgrounds but he found out soon after that Sara had started another interfaith relationship.

'€œI regret everything. I'€™m embarrassed,'€ he said, his voice strained. (fss)

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