The Riau Islands Police Did Not Convey The Reason For Asking For The Pretrial Session Of The Former Members Of The Narcotics Unit Of The Barelang Police To Be Postponed

The Batam City District Court held the first pretrial hearing filed by 9 former members of the Narcotics Unit of the Barelang Police, Wednesday (25/9/2024). (ANTARA/Laily Rahmawaty)

The Batam District Court (PN) Judge postponed the pretrial hearing of a former member of the Narcotics Unit of the Barelang Police because the Riau Islands Regional Police as the respondent was not present at the first trial which was held today.

Single judge Verdian Martin, who presided over the trial with the respondent Ipda Fadillah, represented by his attorney, postponed the trial for 1 week, and was again scheduled for a follow-up hearing on October 2.

"The Respondent asked for a two-week delay, because in this court the full judge was in charge. We only gave 1 week (delay)," Verdian said in court as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, September 25.

The judge said that he had received a letter of application for postponement of the trial from the Riau Islands Regional Police as the defendant / defendant, and read out at the trial. However, the reason for the postponement was not conveyed.

"This is the address of the letter at the Regional Police, meaning it is still in Batam City," the judge asked.

After reading the letter of postponement from the respondent, the judge ordered the clerk to recall the respondent in the next 1 week. Before closing the trial, the judge asked the applicant if there was anything he wanted to convey. The applicant answered enough, so the trial was closed.

"That's enough, so the respondent was ordered to attend the trial next week Wednesday, October 2. To the applicant, please complete the power of attorney," the judge ordered.

The legal team of 9 former members of the Narcotics Unit of the Barelang Police, Christopher Silitonga, said that his client filed a pretrial lawsuit for believing that the determination of the suspect was invalid.

"In determining the suspect, there must be 2 valid pieces of evidence. This is what we ask for in this pretrial," he said.

He said related to the illegal points of the determination of the suspect would be officially presented at trial.

For this pretrial hearing, he said, of his 9 clients, 4 clients had held the first pretrial hearings at the Batam District Court on Tuesday (24/9) and Wednesday (25/9).

The first trial began Tuesday (24/9) for applicant Bripka Jaka Surya, also postponed Thursday (26/9) because the Riau Islands Regional Police as the respondent did not attend without notification. The trial was chaired by the sole judge Yuane Marietta.

Then, today is the first trial for 3 applicants, namely Ipda Fadillah, Bripka Rahmadi and Bripka Alex Chandra.

Brigadier Rahmadi's trial was chaired by the sole judge Dauglas RP Napitupulu, and the Bripka Alex Chandra trial was led by the sole judge Vabiannes Stuart Wattimena.

The three sessions were not attended by the Riau Islands Police and postponed on Wednesday (2/10). Meanwhile, for five other former members of the Narcotics Unit of the Barelang Police, the first pretrial hearing is scheduled for next week.

Separately, the Head of Public Relations of the Riau Islands Police, Kombes Zahwany Pandra Arsyad, responded to the lawsuit by respecting the trial process.

"The Riau Islands Police respect the ongoing trial process," said Pandra briefly.

The nine former members of the Narcotics Unit of the Barelang Police have been named as suspects in alleged drug crimes by the Riau Islands Police.

Previously, the nine people, together with the former Head of Drugs at the Barelang Police, Kompol Satrian Nanda, had been ethically processed by the Riau Islands Police Propam for violations of abuse of authority to set aside evidence of 1 kg of methamphetamine.