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Ferdy Sambo charged with murder, cover-up
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Suspended internal affairs chief Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo arrives on Aug. 4, 2022 at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department in Jakarta for questioning as a witness in the alleged fatal shooting at his residence on July 8 that led to the death of Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
I
n a twist that was both shocking and yet hardly surprising, the National Police on Tuesday announced they had charged former internal affairs chief Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo with the murder of his own aide de camp, Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, ending weeks of wild speculation surrounding a case that has gripped the nation.
Yosua was killed on July 8 in what the police initially claimed was a fatal shootout between him and another police officer, Second Agent Richard Eliezer, at Ferdy’s residence in Duren Tiga in South Jakarta. The police said the altercation took place following Yosua’s alleged attempt to sexually harass Ferdy’s wife, Putri Chandrawathi, in her bedroom.
The police have now officially retracted that account, saying that there was no indication that Yosua was killed in a shootout and that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that Ferdy may have orchestrated Yosua’s murder and then attempted to cover up his alleged crime.
"After a thorough investigation, which includes ballistic, forensics, CCTV footage and phone record examination, our special investigative team found that there was no shootout during the day of the incident, and that Yosua was shot by [Richard] on the orders of Ferdy," Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo told a press conference on Tuesday. "After the fatal shooting, Ferdy fired Yosua's gun into the wall of his house in an attempt to simulate a shootout."
Premeditated murder
The police have detained Ferdy since Saturday at the National Police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) detention center in Depok, West Java, initially over possible professional ethics violations in regard to tampering with evidence.
Read also: Second officer named suspect in cop death
