Support For Novel Baswedan And The Judge's Hope To Give The Best Verdict

JAKARTA - The charges filed by the prosecutor against Ronny Bugis and Rahmat Kadir Mahulette, who were the persecutors of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) senior investigator Novel Baswedan, caused a polemic. A number of parties pay attention to these low demands.

On Sunday, June 14, Novel received a visit from a number of parties at his residence in Kelapa Gading area, North Jakarta. Among those who attended, one of them was constitutional law observer, Refly Harun. This former high-ranking BUMN company said that this meeting was aimed at providing support in relation to this polemic trial process.

"I came to represent personally, because I was invited, yes, I came. The aim was to show concern. Because this is a problem, in my opinion, an important legal issue. Because as a legal person, I want to know what the problem is," Refly told reporters at Jakarta, Sunday, June 14.

During the meeting, Refly asked Novel whether Novel believed that the two people had sprinkled hard water on his face. Novel replied, he doubted the truth of the fact.

"I asked, 'Are you sure that the defendant is the real perpetrator?' The novel itself says it is not sure, "he said.

"Well, in my opinion, if they were not the real perpetrators, I said, yes, they should be released from all charges," he added.

He hoped that the judge should be able to give the best verdict in accordance with the actions of the two defendants.

"Do not let the judge become a hero who is not true. People think, for example, asking for more punishment. Be punished for more than the charges, either four years, or three years. Or for example the maximum," said Refly.

Even if the two of them were not the perpetrators of the torture, Ronny and Rahmat could be punished again with the offense of providing false information and obstructing the legal process.

"If they (Ronny and Rahmat) deliberately misled like that, it means that they have committed another criminal act, yes, obstructing the judicial process including lying and others," he explained.

UGM Pukat researcher Agung Nugroho said that the panel of judges' hammering was the most awaited moment in this trial. This is because the judge is now Novel Baswedan's last hope in obtaining justice for the persecution that caused damage to his eyes.

"The judge has the freedom to determine the severity of the sentence. Including imposing a criminal sentence that exceeds the prosecutor's demands as long as it is to fulfill the public's sense of justice," said Agung in his written statement.

He considered, the panel of judges in the trial should be able to see this persecution case in its entirety and objectively.

Moreover, there were so many irregularities in the trial process. So, it feels inappropriate to make demands as the only reference in decision making.

The irregularities referred to include when the public prosecutor judged that the perpetrators had no intention of injuring Novel. The reason was, Ronny and Rahmat actually wanted to pour hot water on Novel's body but accidentally hit his face.

"The prosecutor's statement stating that the planning elements were not fulfilled was an incorrect understanding of criminal law," said Agung.

He said the defendant had actually fulfilled the planning element when he carried out the attack on the KPK investigator.

This is because there are three elements of planning that are fulfilled, such as deciding the will in a calm atmosphere, the availability of sufficient time from the arising of the will to the execution of the will, and the execution of the will in quiet time.

"Evidenced by the presence of surveillance and hard water that had been prepared by the defendant before doing the watering," he said.

The next irregularity is related to the articles imposed on the two defendants. According to him, the prosecutor should have directed the defendant's actions to the article of serious maltreatment as in Article 355 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code instead of using Article 353 Paragraph (2) of the KUHP.

The prosecuting attorney, continued Agung, also pointed out other irregularities by considering the defendant's testimony more. Agung said the prosecutor should be in charge of proving material truth and justice.

"In fact, the defendant in giving his testimony was not sworn in so that he had the right to deny. In addition, the prosecutor ignored the existence of evidence such as hard water used by the defendant as well as CCTV footage and key witnesses that were examined by the Fact Finding Team and the National Commission on Human Rights," he explained.

Then, another irregularity is that the demands are considered illogical, thus injuring justice. Prosecutors, he said, should have the option of demanding a maximum of seven years in the articles contained in the subsidiary indictment. "However, instead of taking that choice, the prosecutor is demanding a one year prison sentence," he said.

The final irregularity is that the court was unable to reveal the intellectual actors or motives behind the persecution. He assessed that the motive for dislike as expressed by the defendants was not a strong one.

Previously, two defendants who sprinkled hard water against Novel Baswedan, namely Rahmat Kadir Mahulette and Ronny Bugis, were sentenced to a year in prison. The prosecutor assessed that the two were proven to have committed maltreatment which resulted in serious injuries.

In the trial, Rahmat was deemed proven to have committed maltreatment with planning and caused serious injuries to Novel using sulfuric acid that was splashed.

Meanwhile, Ronny was charged with being involved in the persecution for helping Rahmat.

The prosecutor assessed that the two defendants did not fulfill the elements of the primary indictment regarding serious maltreatment from Article 355 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph 1-1 of the Criminal Code.

This is because the liquid that Rahmat splashed accidentally hit Novel's eyes. "The defendant will only teach witness Novel Baswedan by pouring hard water on Novel Baswedan," said the prosecutor while reading out his charges on Thursday, June 11.

"But unexpectedly it turns out that Novel Baswedan's eye caused the right eye to malfunction and the left eye only functions 50 percent, which means permanent disability so that the elements of the primary indictment are not fulfilled," he continued.

For their actions, Rahmat and Ronny were later judged to have violated Article 353 Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code, Article 55 paragraph 1 to 1 of the Criminal Code regarding pre-planned serious assault.