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Yosua murder trial: A (rare) moment of truth for Indonesians
On the lowest rung in the police hierarchy, Richard had no power to defy Ferdy’s order.
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Murder suspect Second Agent Richard Eliezer gestures as he arrives at the South Jakarta District Court on Feb. 15 to hear the judges' verdict in his trial for the murder of police colleague Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
P
robably for the first time in the history of the Indonesian justice system, the public celebrated judges as the true “representation” of God when on Wednesday the South Jakarta District Court handed a lenient sentence to a police officer who was ordered to assist in the killing of a colleague by his boss, a much-feared two-star police general.
The public, who had seemed to have lost faith in the police, prosecutors, judges and lawyers, cheered the 1.5-year jail sentence given to Second Agent (Bharada) Richard Eliezer. The panel of judges, presided over by Wahyu Iman Santoso, found Richard guilty of abetting in the murder of Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, which was orchestrated by former National Police Internal Affairs Division chief Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo. The same court handed Ferdy a death sentence.
Critics may claim none of the defendants received a fair trial because the proceedings were broadcast live and TV hosts invited experts and practitioners to comment on the court hearings, which might have influenced the judges.
Certainly, there was a degree of trial by the media, if not the public, in the high-profile murder case, in which the basic principle of the presumption of innocence was blatantly ignored. But do you think justice would have been delivered if the trial had followed the business-as-usual mode?
“Today, the supremacy of law prevails in this nation. Hopefully, this will continue in the coming days,” farmer Japantun Situmorang wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
Millions of Indonesians perhaps shared Japantun’s jubilation and perhaps their opinions did put pressure on the judges. In fact, the verdict represents the voice of the public, in both the cases of Richard and Ferdy.
It was Richard who told the public Ferdy had lied about the circumstances of the shooting incident that left Yosua dead, which was why Richard offered himself as a justice collaborator. Richard’s testimony paved the way for the judges to find the truth.
