Jakarta – The recent acquittal of Gregorius Ronald Tannur, son of former House of Representatives lawmaker Edward Tannur, on murder charges shows that miscarriages of justice are still a constant threat to the rule of law in our nation.
State prosecutors' decision on Monday to challenge the Surabaya District Court's verdict is a step in the right direction. Not only was the exoneration a mockery of logic, it will erode public trust in the country's justice system.
Just weeks before the controversial verdict on July 24, the public had been flabbergasted by the wrongful arrest of a construction worker named Pegi Setiawan in relation to a 2016 murder case in Cirebon, West Java. The police were unperturbed by persistent media coverage and mounting public pressure to explain the arrest, until the court ruled that the police had erred and ordered Pegi's release.
In the Ronald verdict, however, the panel of judges at the Surabaya District Court seemed to ignore all evidence presented, including an autopsy report, claiming it was not convincing proof that the defendant Ronald had killed his girlfriend Dini Sera Afriyanti in October of last year. The judges said Ronald had brought Dini to the hospital to try to save her life instead.
The police investigation found that Ronald had kicked and strangled Dini and hit her in the head several times with a tequila bottle during an argument in a karaoke club at a shopping mall. The violence continued in the mall's parking lot, where Ronald allegedly ran Dini over because she refused to get in the car with him.
The prosecutors charged Ronald with murder with the possibility of the lesser offenses of manslaughter or aggravated assault. They asked the court to sentence him to 12 years in prison and to order him to pay Dini's family Rp 263 million (US$16,097) in restitution.
The autopsy report found that Dini had died of internal bleeding and a ruptured liver caused by blunt force trauma. The lawyer representing Dini's family also presented evidence in the form of pictures of bruises on her upper arm that matched tire imprints. The judges, however, purported to be convinced that Dini had died of an illness caused by alcohol abuse.
Miscarriages of justice can happen anywhere in the world, but that does not mean we can tolerate them or justify injustice. When they occur, it becomes exceedingly difficult for the judiciary and law enforcement to regain public confidence.
One of the most profound cruelties of miscarriages of justice is that in most cases, the victims are weak and marginalized, such as Pegi in the Cirebon murder saga, while the beneficiaries are the strong, as in Ronald's case.
We recall another terrible injustice in the case of farmers Sengkon and Karta from Bekasi, West Java, who were imprisoned for 12 and 7 years, respectively, for the murder of a couple in 1974. Under police torture, they had confessed to a crime they did not commit. They were set free only after the real murderer confessed.
Another prominent example is the jail time given to people involved in the murder of human rights activist Munir Thalib in 2004 by arsenic poisoning. To this day, the police still have not found the mastermind behind the assassination, which many believe involved higher-ups.
Miscarriages of justice take place for a number of reasons, but they can be minimized through scientific investigations and evidence gathering. Additionally, the judiciary could raise standards of evidence to prevent an innocent person from facing, or being found guilty of, criminal charges. Civil society organizations and the media can also play a role by speaking out against such violations.
Every act of injustice we acquiesce to emboldens those who would exploit our system.
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2024/08/07/justifying-injustice.htm