Komnas PA Asks Judges To Present JE The Accused Of Abusing SPI Students In Batu City

Chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection, Arist Merdeka Sirait/ANTARA/Vicki Febrianto

MALANG - The National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) asked the Malang District Court judges to present the defendant in the case of sexual violence at Sekolah Selamat Pagi Indonesia (SPI) Batu City with the initials JE, to be present in the trial reading the charges.

The chairman of Komnas PA, Arist Merdeka Sirait, said that although the defendant was currently being held at the Malang Penitentiary, it should have been presented in the trial reading the charges on July 27, 2022.

"Why are they not physically presented at the time of reading the charges," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, July 20. He explained that during the first trial process until the 19 defendants were always physically present at the Malang District Court.

He questioned why at the time of the agenda for reading the charges, the defendant JE was not brought to court.

For information, JE continues to attend the online trial from the Malang Penitentiary in this trial, which should be on the agenda for reading the demands. The reading of the charges was postponed for one week.

"I reminded the panel of judges, during the first trial until the 19th the defendants were always physically present. It should not be about the status of the detainee, but JE must be presented here. It is also a disappointment for the victim," he said.

Prosecutor Edi Sutomo explained that the reason why JE was not presented in person at the trial was because the defendant was currently serving time in Malang prison.

JE followed the trial online from the Malang prison. During the trial process, JE is always present because at this time the defendant has not been arrested. JE has been detained in the Malang prison since July 11, 2022.

"The trial was online. Previously it was present because at that time there was no detention. Now it has been entered in the Malang Lowokwaru Prison. Earlier the defendant also appeared on the screen," he said.

The trial for reading the charges for the sexual violence case that occurred at the Indonesian Good Morning School (SPI) Batu City, East Java with the defendant JE, which was scheduled to be read out on July 20, 2022, was postponed for one week.

The 20th session, which was supposed to be on the agenda for reading the demands, was marked by a demonstration by hundreds of people in front of the Malang District Court building. The action was carried out by a number of Child Protection NGOs.

The Prosecutor of the Batu District Prosecutor's Office charged the defendant JE with an alternative article and was threatened with a minimum prison sentence of three years and a maximum of 15 years. There is one person in the indictment file for alleged sexual violence victims with the initials SDS.