Prosecutors Seek Hefty Jail Time for 'Pesantren' Sexual Crime Defendant

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The public prosecutor (JPU) at Surabaya’s District Court on Monday has charged the sexual crime defendant who allegedly sexually violated dozens of Islamic boarding school students in Jombang, East Java. The defendant, Moch Subechi Azal Tsani (MSAT) or Mas Bechi, will be charged with 16 years behind bars.

Head of the East Java High Prosecutor's Office, Mia Amiati, said that the defendant is believed to be guilty of violating Article 285 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code (KUHP), Antaranews reported.

"We apply the maximum demands in accordance with Article 285 juncto 65 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code," he told reporters, after leading the public prosecutor's team in the trial Monday, October 10.

Mia explained that Article 285 of the Criminal Code has a maximum sentence of 12 years. Then added 1/3 of the sentence from Article 65 of the Criminal Code, which is 4 years, stacking up the incarceration period to 16 years.

Zero mitigating considerations

The public prosecutor, Mia said, has also considered the charges are in accordance with the Law. "There is nothing mitigating the defendant. Everything has been proven by the public prosecutor's team by prioritizing conscience and in the name of the law," Mia said.

Meanwhile, the head of the defendant's legal advisory team, Gede Pasek Suardika, considered the prosecution to be too sadistic. 

"It's pointless for us to open up the facts of the trial, dig up witness statements, test the evidence at trial if it has to be severely punished," he said.

ANTARA

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