Police Who Shot Laskar FPI At KM 50 Sentenced To Free, LBH Worried That Unlawful Killing Will Keep Repeating

The panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court read out the verdicts for two police officers accused of unlawful killing (Photo Via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) regrets the decision of the South Jakarta District Court Panel of Judges which sentenced the two police officers to be accused of the shooting of Laskar FPI in the KM 50 tragedy.

LBH Jakarta public attorney, Fadhil Alfathan, revealed that the acquittal of members of the police who were charged with extrajudicial killings set a bad precedent for the police in their actions.

In fact, reflecting on this case, Fadhil is worried that unlawful killings will continue to be repeated.

"It is not impossible, in the future similar Police actions will continue to be repeated and the perpetrators will walk free without punishment because the judiciary which should be the last bastion of justice has turned into a means of impunity", said Fadhil in his statement, Sunday, March 20.

Fadhil observed that during the trial, the fact was found that the Laskar was already under police control and the extrajudicial killings were carried out because the Laskar resisted and tried to seize the officers' weapons when they were about to be brought to the Metro Jaya Police.

Moreover, based on the SOP for the use of firearms set by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Police, it requires that firearms held by officers must be in holsters attached to the officers' bodies so that it is not easy to seize weapons belonging to officers and the resistance should be stopped without killing.

"Thus, the forced defense as regulated in Article 49 of the Criminal Code which is considered by the Panel of Judges on the grounds of resistance by the Laskars is inappropriate", he explained.

In fact, said Fadhil, this case from the beginning has shown various irregularities, starting from the determination of suspects against six Laskar FPI who have died to the fact that the defendants were not detained from the stage of the investigation until the first-degree verdict was handed down.

"It is difficult to see that the defendants were not detained as a natural thing, considering that the actions carried out by the Defendants were acts that took the lives of others. Moreover, these actions were carried out in their capacity as state officials, and the criminal threats carried out by the defendants had complied with the provisions. Article 21 paragraph (4) of the Criminal Procedure Code", added Fadhil.

As is well known, the Panel of Judges of the South Jakarta District Court (PN) decided that two police officers accused of the unlawful killing of members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) were free from criminal punishment even though the prosecutor's primary charges were proven.

The actions of Police Brigadier One (Briptu) Fikri Ramadhan and Police Inspector Two (Ipda) Mohammad Yusmin Ohorella cannot be criminalized because they fall into the category of forced defense and forced defense that exceeds the limit.

"Thus, First Brigadier Fikri and Ipda Yusmin cannot be sentenced for reasons of justification and forgiveness", said Chief Justice M. Arif Nuryanta in the verdict read during a trial at the South Jakarta District Court, Friday, March 18.

In his judgment, the judge explained that the reason for justification erased the unlawful acts committed by First Brigadier Fikri and Ipda Yusmin, while the excuse for forgiveness erased the guilt of the two policemen.

The defendant's unlawful act was taking the lives of other people by shooting four FPI members in a police Xenia car on December 7, 2020. The criminal act, as regulated in Article 338 of the Criminal Code, is included in the prosecutor's primary indictment.