Fikri Zaki Muhammadi, Jakarta – Prosecutors on Monday demanded a six-month prison term for former gang lord Hercules Rozario Marshal despite the nine-year jail sentence he faced initially.
Prosecutor Fajar Aris Setiawan said that based on the juridical analysis, only Article 214 of the Criminal Code applied to Hercules' altercation with police officers in March in West Jakarta.
The article stipulates a maximum seven years in prison for obstructing the work of law enforcers under the threat of violence.
Prosecutors had previously charged Hercules with multiple articles, including instigation of crime, vandalism, obstruction of justice and extortion, which carried a maximum prison term of 18 years.
"Considering testimony from witnesses so far, we concluded that only Article 214 will be used against defendant Hercules Rozario Marshal," Fajar said. "We demand that the court sentence him to six months in prison, less his detention period," he added.
Hercules has already spent over three months in detention.
The prosecutor explained that Hercules threatened resisting arrest on March 8, and took out his artificial eye and threw it at officers while saying, "That thing has been hit by a bullet!" It was also alleged that Hercules banged on a police car and ordered police to disperse.
Fajar told the West Jakarta Court that Hercules had said, "I am Hercules, and this is my home. I feel disturbed by your presence. Disperse! "I'm a veteran. If I were to hit you, you would all die by one punch."
Police deployed 187 personnel, a water canon vehicle and an armored tank to safeguard the trial, according to the West Jakarta Police.
Police named Hercules and 49 of his associates as suspects in March for their alleged involvement in a fight with police in Kebon Jeruk Indah, West Jakarta.
Police said the clash started when the suspects provoked police personnel dispatched to guard the area following reports that Hercules and his men were engaged in extortion there.
After the arrest, detectives raided Hercules' house and confiscated evidence, including two replica guns, an FN pistol, 27 bullets and two magazines. Presiding judge Kemal Tampubolon adjourned the court session until Thursday.