The ministry will be responsible to pay the Rp331-million restitution, and if the ministry has no budget for the restitution, the ministry must allocate the restitution payment from next year's budgetBandung, West Java (ANTARA) - The Bandung District Court has ordered the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection to pay restitution to the 12 victims of Herry Wirawan, whom it has sentenced to life in prison.
Wirawan cannot be directed to pay the restitution as the Criminal Code stipulates that a life sentence cannot be clubbed with another sentence, the court said.
"The total restitution that must be paid to the 12 victims is Rp331,527,186 (US$23.2 thousand)," Justice Yohannes Purnomo Suryo said while sentencing Wirawan at the Bandung District Court building, West Java, on Tuesday.
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No laws assign responsibility for the restitution payment in case a defendant is unable to pay it, hence the decision to redirect the responsibility to the ministry, he explained.
As Wirawan could not be sentenced to pay the restitution after being handed a life sentence, the responsibility will fall on the ministry since protecting Wirawan's victims is within the ministry's scope of work, the judge said.
"The ministry will be responsible to pay the Rp331-million restitution, and if the ministry has no budget for the restitution, the ministry must allocate the restitution payment from next year's budget," Justice Suryo directed.
The final verdict was reached despite the prosecutor's earlier demanding that Wirawan pay Rp331 million in restitution, the final cost agreed by the families of the victims and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK).
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Wirawan was charged under Article 81, paragraph (1), paragraph (3), and paragraph (5) in conjunction with Article 76D of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 17 of 2016 on Amendments to Law Number 23 of 2002 on Child Protection in conjunction with Article 65, paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code in the first indictment.
While sentencing Wirawan to life in prison, the court contended that there were no factors that could support a reduction in his sentence given that his actions profoundly affected his victims.
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Translator: Bagus Ahmad R, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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