The Navy Military Police (POMAL) conducted on Thursday a reconstruction of the murder of environmental activist Jopi Teguh Lasmana Peranginangin near the Venue Bar and Lounge in Kemang, South Jakarta, where a member of the navy Chief Pvt. Joko Lestanto, was named the only suspect.

During the reconstruction, POMAL Jakarta Naval Base law enforcement division head Let. Col. Feber Hermanto revealed that Joko would be charged under Article 351 clause 3 of the Criminal Code for a beating resulting in death. The article carries a maximum sentence of 13 years'€™ imprisonment.

Feber said the incident was started by an argument between the victim, who was at the bar with a number of friends, and the suspect. The suspect told POMAL investigators during the questioning that the victim said some harassing words and provoked his emotions.

'€œAfter Jopi left the bar, Chief Pvt. Joko followed him outside the bar as he wanted to beat him up,'€ Feber told reporters during the reconstruction.

He added that soon after Joko beat Jopi, he then drew a bayonet from his sling bag and stabbed Jopi in his spine. The incident happened when they were in front of the Habibie Center office, a few meters away from the bar.

Jopi, who was a member of environmental group Sawit Watch, an NGO addressing the negative impacts of oil palm plantations, was believed to have been stabbed to death outside the Venue bar on May 23 around 2 a.m., according to POMAL.

Sawit Watch said that before his death Jopi had just concluded a research report on oil palm plantation companies in North Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi that used corruption and bribery to secure their licenses. The report was going to be published in the near future.

Besides Sawit Watch, Jopi had also been involved in many other organizations, such as the leftist League of National Students for Democracy (LMND), Tanah Merdeka Foundation, Greenpeace and the Indigenous People'€™s Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN).

Thursday'€™s reconstruction was the first time the public saw the suspect. The reconstruction was also attended by seven witnesses, each of them wearing masks to protect their identities.

According to Feber, Joko bought a bottle of Vodka in Ragunan Terminal, South Jakarta, and then drank it by himself before he went to the bar to meet his friend.

'€œWhen he stabbed the victim, Joko was still under the influence of alcohol,'€ Feber said.

A number of witnesses, however, expressed their disappointment during the reconstruction as they insisted that there were other people who beat Jopi that night and they demanded that POMAL find and arrest the other unidentified persons.

'€œThe suspect is the one who stabbed Jopi that night, but shortly before that he was beaten up by four, if not five, other men,'€ a witness said.

Alex Argo Hernowo, a lawyer for Jopi, said that the POMAL must develop the case as he was certain that there were other people involved in the incident. He also emphasized that it was unclear why Jopi and Joko were engaged in an argument.

'€œThe suspect said that the fight was started when they stared at each other, but no clear explanation was offered for why it then escalated into an argument,'€ he said.

Alex said that the cause should be investigated further and POMAL should figure out what other people were involved in the beating.

Popular

Power begins to return after outage in Indonesia's Bali island

The fragile promise of pluralism, religious freedom in Southeast Asia

Coffee, gold push up inflation to 1.95 percent in April