Bambang Muryanto and Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – The trial of 12 of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) members who allegedly attacked a prison in Sleman, Yogyakarta, has once again drawn harsh criticism from a scholar, who says the trial is against the Criminal Code Procedure (KUHAP) as the court allowed witnesses to testify at the same time.
According to lecturer Oce Madril of Gadjah Mada University's school of law, the witnesses should have been presented one by one to the court, especially as the case constituted an alleged human rights violation.
"Examining witnesses together will influence each others' testimonies and lead to bias," Oce said.
The trial, which is being held at the II-11 Yogyakarta Military Court and involves 12 defendants who are members of Kopassus Group 2 Kandang Menjangan, Kartosuro, Central Java, is nearing the reading out of the military prosecutors' sentence demands on July 31. The Kopassus members allegedly killed four detainees at the prison on March 23.
Nine of the defendants have been charged with premeditated murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and death.
During the trial, all the witnesses – who were detainees in the same cell as the four murdered inmates at the prison – were presented to the court in groups. They allegedly witnessed defendant Second Sgt. Ucok Tigor Simbolon shoot dead the four detainees.
Military prosecutor Lt. Col. Budiharto told the court that to conserve time, the witnesses needed to be examined together because their testimonies, as mentioned in the dossiers, were almost the same.
"Such a process violated the KUHAP. The Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission [KY] should have warned [the court]," Oce said. He quoted Article 160 (1a) of Law No. 8/1981 on the KUHAP and Article 154 (1b) of Law No. 1/1997 on military courts as the basis for his statement.
He said he found no strong reason for the trial of the case to present the witnesses in groups. "The KY has to issue a special note over the legal process of the case," he said.
A similar view was also expressed by the Indonesian Court Monitoring (ICM) director Tri Wahyu KH, who said the problem was that the military prosecutors had never presented objections to the practice.
Meanwhile, KY chairman Suparman Marzuki said the witnesses could be presented in groups if they witnessed what happened together at the same time and at the same place. "If they see or hear different incidents they cannot be presented [in court] together," Suparman said.
In a related development, a group of people calling themselves Kopassus supporters staged a rally on Friday in front of the Yogyakarta Military Prosecutor's Office, demanding sentence waivers for the defendants in the case.
"The Kopassus members have acted against the thugs that caused restlessness in the community and who always managed to escape the law. They should instead receive an honor and not be tried," said the protesters' field coordinator Agung Murharjanto.
The group comprised the Jogokaryan Mosque volunteers, Kawulo Rakyat Ngayogyakarto, Paksi Katon, Gafatar, Tatar Pasundan, Malioboro pedicab drivers, Forum Jogja Rembuk, Srikandi and Ansor.
Paksi Katon chairman Muh. Suhud said the situation in Yogyakarta had returned to normal after the alleged killing of the four thugs by the Kopassus members.