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Buni Yani accuses investigators of not following proper legal procedures
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Suspected -- Buni Yani (right, in batik shirt) listens to his pretrial motion read out by one of his lawyers during a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. (JP/Safrin La Batu)
B
uni Yani, who is suspected of inciting hatred for uploading a video of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s speech alleged to contain blasphemous remarks, claimed police investigators did not carry out proper legal procedures before naming him a suspect.
In his pretrial motion to challenge his suspect status, Buni accused the police of skipping the case reconstruction stage and immediately making a conclusion, in which they named him as a suspect.
Buni said skipping one investigation stage, such as a case reconstruction, violated the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) and a National Police chief regulation on investigation procedures.
“This suspect naming is not valid,” said Buni, in his motion, which was read in turns by his lawyers in a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.
After he was questioned for the first time on Nov. 23, Buni was immediately given a letter of arrest and his status was immediately changed from witness to suspect.
He also claims the police treated his case differently from Ahok’s, despite the close connection. In Ahok’s case, the police conducted a semi-open case screening but it did not do the same thing in his case.
The police’s law division unit chief Sr. Comr. Agus Rohmat said after the hearing on Tuesday, investigators had followed all procedures including conducting a case reconstruction before they named Buni a suspect.
The Jakarta Police, as a defendant in the pretrial hearing, are set to respond Buni’s pretrial motion in a hearing on Wednesday. (ebf)
