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tate prosecutors demanded on Tuesday that a panel of judges at the North Jakarta District Court sentence Dadang Supriyatna to 13 years in prison and the option of paying a fine of Rp 60 million (US$5,133) or serving an additional six months in jail for kidnapping and abusing 3-year-old Iqbal Saputra.

Prosecutors cited violations of Article 88 of the 2002 Child Protection Law, as well as Paragraph 2 of Article 330 and Article 354 of the Criminal Code as justification for their sentence demand.

'The prosecutors have found the defendant guilty of kidnapping, beating and economically exploiting Iqbal by forcing him to busk on streets,' lead prosecutor Malini Sianturi said.

Article 88 of the Child Protection Law stipulates a maximum 10-year sentence for anyone found guilty of sexually or economically exploiting a child under 18 years of age.

Meanwhile, Paragraph 2 of Article 330 and Article 354 of the Criminal Code prohibit the kidnapping and mistreatment of children and stipulate maximum sentences of nine and eight years, respectively.

The prosecutors said that the evidence proving Dadang's guilt included an I-Cherry mobile phone, testimonies of witnesses and Iqbal's medical examination results.

Prosecutor Theodora Mampang said that Dadang's actions had resulted in severe injuries, including broken arms, a cut tongue, wounded genitals, bruises, bite marks and cigarette burns all over his body. The child was so severely injured that he had to be admitted to the Koja Hospital in North Jakarta for treatment, she said.

'We found the defendant's actions toward Iqbal to be sadistic and inhumane. His actions have also instilled unrest within the community,' she said while reading the sentence demand.

However, prosecutors acknowledged that Dadang's courteous manner during the trials were one of the mitigating factors.

After the reading of the sentence demand, Dadang looked down in resignation and quietly said that he would prepare a defense statement for next week.

'The proposed sentence is heavy for sure. We hope for something lighter because Dadang has admitted to all the charges,' Dadang's lawyer, Hendrayanto, told The Jakarta Post.

The toddler's maltreatment was discovered on March 13, when a woman, Juliana, noticed the ailing child in the arms of Dadang, who claimed to be the child's father, at the Mangga Dua busway stop in North Jakarta.

Juliana took the boy to a nearby community-health center where doctors were alarmed by the child's critical condition.

The police found that Dadang was the boyfriend of Iqbal's mother, Iis Novianti, and was not the child's father.

The indictment said that Dadang took the child away last December while Iis was working as a vendor at the Atrium Senen shopping mall in Central Jakarta.

Iqbal was released from the hospital in May after being treated for two months. However, he will continue undergoing treatment three times a week over the next six months due to permanent brain damage.

Iqbal has been put in the care of his aunt in Bekasi, West Java, as his mother has been deemed unfit to care for him. (fss)