“All defendants are guilty as charged. And they should receive maximum punishments except for one defendant who gunned down the victim.” That, I believe, is the response of many Indonesians, if not most, who followed the court hearing of the premeditated murder of Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat by TV live coverage, along with analysis and commentary from scholars and experts, and on social media platforms.

To an Indonesian audience, perhaps it is only the TV coverage of the high-profile murder trial live from the South Jakarta District Court that can rival the FIFA World Cup fever, especially after the dramatic exit of pre-tournament favorites.

Thanks to the intensive TV broadcast, and live reports on social media platforms, many Indonesian people now have grown in confidence to deliver their own judgement against the defendants of the murder case, which stole the show as soon as the July 8 shooting went public.

According to the indictment, the killing was masterminded by Yosua’s commanding superior Ferdy Sambo, a former head of the powerful National Police’s Internal Division, and his wife Putri Candrawathi. Ferdy is even accused of shooting Yosua to make sure he was dead. Ferdy was dishonorably discharged from the police as a two-star general; and, together with the other four defendants, is facing a death sentence or life imprisonment.

Initially the police claimed Yosua was killed in a shootout with Richard Eliezer Pudihang Lumiu, Ferdy’s other aide, after he caught Yosua red-handed, sexually assaulting Putri. But that narrative has been dismissed by the police.

Ferdy and his former subordinates are also accused of attempting to cover up the murder. The public has seen the officers vent their anger with Ferdy in court for killing their career. They insist they are just the victims of Ferdy because they were too afraid to defy his orders to kill Yosua and cover up the murder.

But the public may doubt the officers’ defense, because as Ferdy’s aides they allegedly had enjoyed privileges before the tragedy took place.