Taking Care Of The Psychological Victims Of MSAT, Surabaya District Court Judges Asked To Present Special Victims Online Or Prepare A Different Room

MSAT alias Mas Bechi/DOK ANTARA

SURABAYA - Lawyers for victims of student sexual abuse with the defendant Mochamad Subchi Azal Tsani alias Bechi, objected to the continued trial being held offline or face-to-face.

To maintain the victim's trauma, the panel of judges is expected to present the victim via online during the follow-up hearing on Monday, August 15.

"We are worried that the victim's psychology will be disturbed by the offline trial (face to face), because they will meet directly with the defendant," said the victim's lawyer, Jauhar Kurniawan, Wednesday, August 10.

Jauhar did not want the victim's trauma to be repeated when he met Bechi during the trial. Therefore, the lawyer hopes that the judge will not present the victim specifically during the trial, but online.

Jauhar has sent a letter to the Surabaya District Court (PN) judge containing a request for the victim to be presented online. However, the Surabaya District Court did not respond and rejected it.

The decision for the face-to-face trial was decided by the panel of judges in an interim decision read out by the judge on Monday, August 8. Even so, Jauhar will again send a letter to the Surabaya District Court.

The letter requested that when the victim testified, she was not in the same room as the defendant.

"We accept the judge's decision, but we will try to send another letter to the District Court, regarding when the victim's witness examination is not made into the same room as the defendant," he said.

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the East Java High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati Jatim) Endang Tirtana, said his party would coordinate with the Victim Witness Protection Agency (LPSK) to ensure victims and witnesses remain safe when giving testimony.

"Later we will involve LPSK to make [victims] safe and so on. Later we will have special treatment for victim witnesses, there will be assistance," said Endang.