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Reprieve as cop shooter gets lenient sentence
Accomplice Richard Eliezer’s police career still up in air.
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he 18-month prison sentence handed down to Second Patrolman Richard Eliezer, the National Police officer who fired at least one of the bullets in the 2022 murder of his colleague and later exposed the plot to authorities, has sent a message that the country’s court system is willing to reward cooperation, analysts have said.
But Richard is not off the hook just yet, as questions remain regarding whether a murder accomplice can or should be welcomed back into the corps.
On Wednesday, in the last of the trials over the July 2022 killing of Brig. Novfriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, a panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court found Richard guilty of abetting the murder.
The bench said Richard’s cooperation with authorities justified the lighter, 18-month sentence, a fraction of the 12 years sought by prosecutors.
The role of “justice collaborator”, which Richard undertook, is offered to a perpetrator of a crime who is willing to work with law enforcement to reveal the details of a case and the roles of other culprits.
Poengky Indarti of the National Police Commission said the ruling showed the judges’ acknowledgement of Richard’s role in bringing crucial evidence to the case.
“Richard’s trial was [carried out] under extraordinary terms. Specifically, it has shown that justice collaborators can get the recognition they deserve,” she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Poengky also applauded Richard’s willingness to go against his own superior, Ferdy Sambo, the police’s former internal affairs chief and two-star general, even though he was of one of the most junior ranks in the force.
Erasmus Napitupulu, whose Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) think tank had supported leniency for Richard, commended the judges presiding over his trial.
“The bench’s decision was a display of good practice for how courts should treat justice collaborators,” he said on Wednesday. “Hopefully, it can also motivate other justice collaborators to gather the courage to assist law enforcement officials in uncovering more crimes.”
Pros and cons
In the verdict, the judges concluded that Richard had agreed to participate in the murder plot hours before he shot and wounded an unarmed and unsuspecting Yosua at Ferdy’s official residence in South Jakarta.
Ferdy, who was found guilty of finishing Yosua off with a bullet to the head, then made it seem like the victim was instead killed in a shoot-out with Richard, the bench found.
Richard is the only convict in the case to receive a lighter sentence than what prosecutors had sought.
In two separate hearings on Monday, judges sentenced Ferdy to death and his wife Putri Chandrawati to 20 years in prison. The sentences far exceeded the life imprisonment demanded for Ferdy and the eight-year prison sentence sought for Putri.
Two of Ferdy’s other accomplices, his civilian driver Kuat Ma’ruf and aide-de-camp Brig. Ricky Rizal, were sentenced on Tuesday to 15 and 13 years in prison, respectively, higher than the eight years demanded by prosecutors for each defendant.
With his 18-month sentence, Richard may have a path back into the force.
National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo said in December that any officer found guilty of a crime and sentenced to more than two years in prison would automatically be dishonorably discharged, Kompas.com reported.
[https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/02/12/16065481/karier-bharada-e-di-polri-bisa-selamat-jika-divonis-2-tahun-penjara]
As Richard’s sentence does not meet that threshold, a police internal ethics hearing will determine whether he will have a future in the force.
National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said the date for the hearing had yet to be determined.
“We are still waiting for the internal affairs division to decide,” Dedi was quoted by Kompas.com as saying on Wednesday.
[https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/02/15/13094231/richard-eliezer-divonis-15-tahun-mungkinkah-kembali-jadi-polisi-ini-kata]
But returning to the police force could put Richard’s life in danger, said Bambang Rukminto, an analyst at the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS).
“It will be dangerous for him to be placed among the general police ranks but relatively safer should he be put in the [Mobile Brigade] squad,” he said, referring to the paramilitary unit that Richard was initially assigned to.
The officer was placed in the care of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) after agreeing to serve as a justice collaborator.
Richard’s possible return could pose other issues, as well.
“If he is not dishonorably discharged, the National Police may seem permissive of crimes committed by their members,” Bambang said on Wednesday. “This would direct them further away from the spirit of building a professional police force.”
