Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The Medan District Court sentenced Tuesday a student, a becak (pedicab) driver and a lecturer to prison for their involvement in violent protest that led to the death of North Sumatra legislative council speaker Abdul Aziz Angkat in Feburary.
The three defendants were found guilty of being involved in the riot which erupted from a protest held to demand the establishment of a province in Tapanuli, North Sumatra.
The Medan District Court sentenced M.H. Pardede, a University of Sisingamangaraja XII student to two-and-a-half years in prison.
This was a lighter sentence than the four years handed down to pedicab driver Martunggul Panjaitan, and lecturer Kardi Siregar, even though all were found guilty of breaking up a plenary session of the North Sumatra legislative council.
Presiding judge Ardy Djohan said Pardede's sentence was in accordance with his actions. He added that Pardede was proven guilty of violating the Criminal Code for breaking up a plenary session at the council, which was led at the time by Abdul Aziz.
Ardy said the defendant was inside the plenary meeting room at the legislative council and chanted "Hail to Tapanuli province", but had joined the rally on a whim.
"The defendant had initially wished to find his lecturer at the campus. His friends told him the lecturer was at the rally, so they asked him to join them in the rally at the legislative building," Ardy told The Jakarta Post after the trial.
Ardy said that among the reasons mitigating the sentence were that the defendant was polite and showed remorse during the trial and that he was still young and the sole child of his family and thus the only source of support for his parents.
"His parents were not present during the trial because they could not afford to come," said Ardy, adding that Pardede's parents live in Tarutung, North Tapanuli.
In response to the verdict, prosecutor Cut Indri immediately filed an appeal, saying the sentence was too lenient. "The verdict was too light, not even half that of our demand," Indri said. Prosecutors had demanded a seven-year sentence for Pardede.
In a separate trial of Chandra Panggabean, who as chairman of the Tapanuli province separation committee was a key suspect, two witnesses testified that they had seen Chandra leading thousands of supporters to disrupt the plenary session.
Witness Hanafiah Harahap, a councilor from the Golkar party, said moments after the crowd stormed into the legislative building, Chandra remained harassing Abdul, demanding he immediately sign a recommendation letter on the establishment of a province in Tapanuli prvince.
Hanafiah repeatedly said Chandra had intimidated Abdul Aziz, saying "Speaker, sign the letter quickly, the crowd has grown bigger".
Another witness, Elmadon Siregar, said Abdul Aziz was eventually saved from the raging crowd. However, he continued to be dogged by a number of people. According to autopsy results, he died of a heart attack soon after.
Nearly 70 people have been implicated in the incident, eight as key suspects. Fourteen have been sentenced to jail terms less that prosecutors called for; the others await trial at the Medan District Court.