TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - The defense attorney in the case of the attack on the Cebongan Penitentiary in Sleman, Yogyakarta, has asked the panel of judges at the Military II-11 Court Martial in Yogyakarta to free his client, whom he claimed to be suffering from a stress disorder.
"Stress disorders are common in the military environment, especially among those in the special forces who lost their colleagues," defense attorney Col. Rokhmat said in the reading of his defense yesterday.
The defendants, who are members of the Kopassus Group II in Jandang Menjangan, Kartasura, include Second Sergeant Ucok Tigor Simbolon, Second Sergeant Sugeng Sumaryanto, and First Corporal Kodik.
Rokhmat said Ucok’s mental state became unstable upon hearing the news of the attack on his teammate, First Sergeant Sriyono, and the murder of another Kopassus member, Chief Sergeant Heru Santoso. He said Ucok was unable to think of anything else but how to track down the attackers of Sriyono and the murderers of Heru Santoso.
"The shooting of the four prisoners at the Cebongan Penitentiary was an expression of the corps bond and jiwa korsa (the military’s notion of solidarity)," said Rokhmat.
Ucok was the executor of the four prisoners in the bloody attack on the Cebongan Penitentiary on March 23. The four prisoners—Hendrik Angel Sahetapi alias Decky alias Deki, Yohanes Juan Manbait, Gameliel Yermianto Rohi Riwu alias Adi, and Adrianus Candra Galaja alias Dedi—were indicted for the murder of Chief Sergeant Heru Santoso at Hugo’s Cafe a week prior to the attack, on March 19.
Heru Santoso was once Ucok’s superior who came to his aid when he was infected with malaria in Papua. First Sergeant Sriyono was a teammate who saved Ucok from an attack by members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh.
"Not a single witness could confirm that the defendant committed systematic or premeditated murders of the four Cebongan Penitentiary prisoners in Sleman," added Rokhmat.
The defense attorney classified his client’s crime as a material violation against the negative criminal code, claiming a group of residents in Yogyakarta were in favor of Ucok’s crime.
"Not only did they accept it, but the people of Yogyakarta actually supported his action," he said. To amplify his argument, the defense attorney played a footage showing the support of the people in Yogyakarta for Ucok for killing the four prisoners.
Rokhmat believed his client was guilty of murder, yet for a reason that was forgivable.
"The victims were thugs who made the people restless and they were murderers of Kopassus members," he asserted.
Previously, during the case’s trial on July 31, military prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Budhiarto said the three defendants were guilty of committing systematic or premeditated murders. Ucok was charged with twelve years’ imprisonment, Sugeng ten years, and Kodik eight years. The prosecutor also demanded the three be dishonorably discharged from the military.
MUH SYAIFULLAH
