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Indonesia: Jakarta court's conviction on two street singers is a miscarriage of justice
Asian Human Rights Commission Urgent Appeal - February 5, 2014
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information on the case of torture against six street singers in Jakarta, who were charged with murder in June 2013. Two of them, Andro Supriyanto and Nurdin Prianto, were found guilty and sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment by the South Jakarta District Court in January this year. Irregularities were noted in the trial and the reasoning of the judges in reaching their judgment, raising the suspicion of a miscarriage of justice in this case.
Updated information:
Johanes Gea of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) informed the AHRC that the South Jakarta District Court sentenced Andro Supriyanto and Nurdin Prianto to seven years of imprisonment on 17 January, 2014. A panel of judges – consisting of judges Soehartono, Syamsul Edy and Suwanto – declared Andro and Nurdin guilty of murder under Article 338 in conjunction with Article 55 (1) of the Penal Code. As previously reported in AHRC-UAC-124-2013, Andro and Nurdin are two of six street singers who were arrested and tortured by officers of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police. The officers were reported to have used force to get them to confess to the murder of Dicky Maulana. Earlier in December 2013, the other four street singers – who are minors – were convicted on the same account and sentenced to three to four years of imprisonment by the juvenile court in South Jakarta.
LBH Jakarta noted several irregularities in the trial and the reasoning of the judges in reaching their judgment in this case. The panel of judges relied heavily on the witnesses' and suspects' verbal statements to the police in concluding their judgment, contrary to Article 185 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Such article establishes that statements of witnesses which shall be counted as evidence are only those delivered before the court of law.
In their verbal statements to the police, Andro, Nurdin and the other four street singers – AP, F, FP and BF – 'confessed' that they were responsible for Dicky's death. However, all of them retracted their verbal statements before the court, claiming that such confession was made under torture, threats and coercion by the police. The lawyer of the accused from LBH Jakarta later requested the judges to summon 19 police officers in charge for the arrest of the clients for further examination. The judges, however, only summoned two officers who were not involved in the torture of Andro, Nurdin, AP, F, FP and BF. The judges eventually dismissed the torture claim citing the reason that the accused could not point out which of the two summoned police officers was responsible for the abuse.
During the trial, the judges have also heard the testimony of IP, a witness who claimed to be one of the three persons actually responsible for the death of Dicky Maulana. Before the court, IP testified that he and his two friends named Brengos (also known as Khairudin Hamzah) and Jubai (also known as Jubaidi) killed Dicky at around 2.30 a.m. on 30 June 2013. IP testified that he saw Dicky was taken by Brengos and Jubai to the space under a bridge in Cipulir. He also heard Dicky's scream and saw that Brengos and Jubai left the bridge without Dicky. They later sold the victim's motorbike and divided the money between three of them.
IP's testimony was supported by the statement from another witness, UW, who saw Dicky with Brengos and Junaidi in the early morning of 30 June 2013. In a hospital on the same day, UW met Brengos whose hand was wounded. IP explained to the judges that Brengos got the wound when he was attacking Dicky earlier in the morning.
IP told the judges that his role in the murder was to make sure that the area around the bridge was cleared and safe. Under Article 55 of the Indonesian Penal Code, therefore, he might be classified as an accomplice. However, the judges ignored IP's testimony. Despite IP's detailed account on the crime, the judges claimed his testimony was unreliable, as it was only based on his conversation with Brengos and Jubai who were drunk at that time.
Apart from ignoring a substantial amount of testimony by the witnesses, the panel of judges in this case failed to take into consideration the testimony of a forensic expert whose statement is in favour of the accused and in congruence with the information provided by IP before the court. According to the expert, with the wounds he was suffering from, Dicky could have survived for approximately eight hours after he was attacked. As his time of death was at around 1 p.m., it is more likely that he was attacked at around 2 a.m. than at 9 a.m. as claimed by the prosecutor. Yet the judges decided to believe more in the prosecutor's claim than the expert's.
The time of the attack on Dicky was an important disputed fact during the trial, as the two accused have the alibi of being outside Jakarta at around 2 am on 30 June 2013.
The prosecutor argued that the accused felt threatened by Dicky Maulana whom they claimed was a new street singer in the area. This argument, however, was implausible as the parents of Dicky themselves have testified before the court that their son was not a street singer. Yet, again, the judges dismissed the claim made by the victim's parents, and agreed with the implausible argument delivered by the prosecutor.
As previously narrated in AHRC-UAU-034-2013, the trial of four minors accused of jointly murdering Dicky Maulana with Andro and Nurdin has been concluded. LBH Jakarta reported that several witnesses who earlier testified for the minors before the juvenile court had declined to testify in the trial of Andro and Nurdin. Their testimonies in this case are significant as – along with UW – they witnessed Dicky was with Brengos, Jubai and IP in the early morning of 30 June 2013. The legal aid organisation suspected that those witnesses had declined to testify in the trial of Nurdin and Andro as they had been threatened and intimidated by police officers.
The judges' failure to take into consideration the testimonies of key witnesses, their tendency to be heavily in favour of the police and the prosecutor's claims, as well as their wilful blindness on the tortured allegation raised by the accused, have led to the AHRC's allegation that Nurdin and Andro's conviction is a case of miscarriage of justice.
LBH Jakarta has submitted an appeal to Jakarta High Court and reported the judges who examined Nurdin and Andro's case to the Judicial Commission.
Suggested action:
Please write to the listed authorities below, asking them to investigate the allegation of torture against Nurdin, Andro and the other four street singers (AP, F, FP and BF). Please urge the police to also conduct an investigation against Brengos, Jubaidi and IP, three persons who are suspected to be responsible for the death of Dicky Maulana. Both investigations shall be conducted effectively and impartially that those who are responsible for the abuse and the crime will be sentenced proportionately.
Given the irregularities in the criminal proceeding and the judgment against Nurdin and Andro, judges of South Jakarta District Court who examined the case should also be investigated, to ensure that their independence has not been compromised in this case.
The AHRC is writing separately to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, asking for their intervention in this matter.
To support this appeal, please click here: http://www.urgentappeals.net/support.php?ua=AHRC-UAU-003-2014.
Sample letter:
Dear ___________,
Indonesia: Jakarta court's conviction on two street singers is a miscarriage of justice
I was informed by Andro and Nurdin's lawyer from Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) that there were irregularities during the trial and in the reasoning of judges in concluding their judgment. I noted that the judges based their judgment heavily on the verbal statements made by Andro and Nurdin to the police during interrogation, in which they 'confessed' that they have murdered Dicky. Such statements, however, were retracted by both accused, as they were invoked under duress. I have received reports that Andro and Nurdin were subjected to beatings and electric shocks by officers of Jakarta Metropolitan Police while they were being questioned.
The judges' decision to use the verbal statements obtained under torture as evidence not only violates Article 15 of the UN Convention against Torture but also Article 185 of the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code. The provision under the Criminal Procedure Code establishes that statements of witnesses which shall be counted as evidence by judges are only those delivered before the court of law.
In their judgment on the case, the judges have also ignored the testimonies of key witnesses and expert in favour of the accused. The judges, for instance, dismissed the testimony of IP who stated under oath that he and his friends named Brengos and Jubai are responsible for the death of Dicky. The judges also ignored a forensic expert's testimony who claimed that, with the wounds he was suffering from, Dicky could have survived for approximately eight hours after he was attacked. As his time of death was at around 1 p.m., it is more likely that he was attacked at around 2 a.m. than at 9 a.m. as claimed by the prosecutor. The time of the attack on Dicky was an important disputed fact during the trial, as the two accused have the strong alibi of being outside Jakarta at around 2 am on 30 June 2013.
I am also questioning the judges' decision to believe the prosecutor's claim that Andro and Nurdin killed Dicky as they felt threatened by the victim who, according to the prosecutor, is a street singer. Dicky's parents have explicitly mentioned before the court that their son was not a street singer that the prosecutor's claim on the motive of the murder is implausible.
The response to the torture allegation given by the judges in this case has made me question Indonesia's commitment in preventing and punishing torture, a human rights violation unequivocally condemned under international law. Willful blindness of the judges to the evidence pointing to the innocence of Andro and Nurdin and their judgment that are heavily in favour of the police have raised my doubts that the examination of this case have been conducted independently.
I am therefore calling upon you to ensure that an investigation is conducted against the judges. An investigation needs to be launched to ascertain whether the judges have been influenced by the police in concluding their judgments. As LBH Jakarta is filing an appeal with the High Court, I urge you to ensure that the Court is free from interference or influence from any party. At the same time, the torture allegations raised by Andro and Nurdin should be criminally investigated. Such criminal investigation should lead to the proportionate punishment of all police officers responsible for the torture. An internal investigation within the police should not be treated as a substitute for a criminal proceeding. I am also calling you to ensure that an investigation against Brengos, Junaidi, and IP – three persons allegedly to be the real murderers of Dicky – to take place immediately.
I look forward for your effective and positive response in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Please send your letters to:
1. Mr. Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono
President of
the Republic of Indonesia
Jl. Veteran No.
16
Jakarta Pusat
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 3458
595
Fax: +62 21 3484
4759
2. Ms. Harkristuti
Harkrisnowo
General Director
of Human Rights
Ministry of Law
and Human Rights
Jl. HR Rasuna
Said Kav. 6–7
Kuningan, Jakarta
12940
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 525
3006, 525 3889
Fax: +62 21 525
3095
3. Gen. Sutarman
Chief of the
Indonesian National Police
Jl. Trunojoyo
No. 3
Kebayoran Baru,
Jakarta Selatan 12110
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 384
8537, 726 0306
Fax: +62 21 7220
669
E-mail: info@polri.go.id
4. Drs. Putut
Eko Bayuseno
Chief of Jakarta
Metropolitan Police
Jl. Jendral Sudirman
No.55
Jakarta 12190
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 523
4302, 523 4240
Fax. +62 21 523
4070
E-mail: reskrimum@metro.polri.go.id
5. Dr. H. Muhammad
Hatta Ali
Chief Justice
of the Indonesian Supreme Court
Jl. Medan Merdeka
Utara No. 9-13
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 384
3348
Fax: +62 21 381
0356
E-mail: info@ma-ri.go.id
6. Mr. Suparman
Marzuki
Chairperson of
the Judicial Commission
Jl. Kramat Raya
No. 57
Jakarta Pusat
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 390
5876
Fax: +62 21 390
6215
E-mail: kyri@komisiyudisial.go.id
7. Ms. Siti Nur
Laila
Chairperson of
the National Human Rights Commission
Jl. Latuharhary
No. 4-B
Jakarta 10310
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 392
5227-30
Fax: +62 21 392
5227
E-mail: info@komnas.go.id
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals
Programme
Asian Human Rights
Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
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