TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Rasyid walks free in fatal reckless driving case
The East Jakarta District Court handed down a suspended five-month prison sentence on Monday to 22-year-old M
Change Size
T
he East Jakarta District Court handed down a suspended five-month prison sentence on Monday to 22-year-old M. Rasyid Amrullah Rajasa, who rear-ended a car that led to the deaths of two people.
The panel of judges gave the youngest son of Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa a six-month probation term and ordered him to pay a Rp 12 million (US$1,200) fine.
The verdict is lighter than the demands of state prosecutors, who asked for Rasyid to be sentenced to eight months in jail and be given a Rp 12 million fine with a one year suspension.
Presiding judge Suharjono said the defendant was found guilty of reckless driving that claimed two lives and injured three others on the city inner-circle toll road on New Year’s Day in East Jakarta.
Rasyid’s BMW X5 jeep rear-ended a Daihatsu Luxio minivan at the 3.5-kilometer point on the toll road. The force of the impact caused five of the minivan’s passengers to fall out of the vehicle and onto the road.
Two of the Luxio’s passengers — Harun, 57, and M. Raihan, 14 months old, — were killed in the accident while three others, Enung, Ripal Mandala Putra and Supriyati, sustained minor injuries.
Suharjono said Rasyid’s move to fulfill his responsibility after the accident by giving compensation, visiting the victims and replacing the broken car, were considerations that mitigated his sentence.
“The defendant or his family also vowed to support the education of the victim, Ripal, until college,” he said during the session attended by Rasyid’s mother and girlfriend.
Suharjono said the judges also took his education as an important reason for the suspended sentence.
“He has to go back to London, so he can continue his study,” he said, and added that Rasyid was in his final year. The 22-year-old also escaped a travel ban.
Rasyid, a student at East London University, came forward to shake hands with the judges.
The maximum penalty stipulated in the 2009 Traffic and Transportation Law, which prosecutors have used to charge him, is six years’ imprisonment.
Legal expert Gandjar Laksmana considered the sentence too low.
“The judge should have given him at least a one year suspension. He will not have to be aware of his sentence in only six months as he will be in London,” he said.
Gandjar said he questioned why the law enforcement agencies did not ban Rasyid from going abroad. “Someone who is involved in a legal process needs to be banned from traveling abroad. Moreover, Rasyid has been proven guilty,” he said.
Gandjar said giving compensation to victims could have been a factor in the judges’ decision to lighten the sentence. “But it doesn’t mean that if a defendant is able to give a lot of money to the victims, his sentence should be so light,” he said. “Rasyid can now get on with his life and walk free, but the people who died in this accident cannot,” he went on.
Rasyid’s lawyer Ananta Budiartika said Rasyid would continue his studies in London as he was not banned from traveling abroad.
“As far as I know, people aren’t allowed to enter the United Kingdom when they have been sentenced for five years or more. I think Rasyid will be fine,” he said.
Ananta said his team was unsatisfied with the verdict, as his client was innocent and should have been acquitted from any charges. He added that his team would discuss with Rasyid’s family before considering an appeal. (cor)
