Murtede was named a suspect in the case after he reportedly fought four armed robbers who attacked him, killing two of them in defense.
"Once more, I appreciate the measures taken by the National Police, in this case, the head of Criminal Investigation Unit, Commissioner General Agus Andrianto, who ordered the West Nusa Tenggara Regional Police to cease the legal case of suspect Murtede alias Amaq Sinta, a victim of robbery who was named as a suspect instead," deputy chairman of Commission III of the House of Representatives, Khairul Saleh, said in a written statement received here on Saturday.
The case went viral and was widely discussed on various occasions and on social media. Many netizens wrote in comments, which became the subject of conversation in the digital space.
Saleh also lauded Andrianto for working with the prosecutor's office in February to get the police to drop graft charges against another person, identified as Nurhayati.
Nurhayati had been named a graft suspect after reporting a case of corruption—a development that had left the public shocked.
In connection with the robbery case, Saleh disclosed that the public was disappointed by the Central Lombok Police's decision to name Murtede as a suspect in the case.
"I was also surprised. Why is it that one victim who was robbed by four people, after defending himself by killing two of the robbers, was actually made a suspect?” he remarked.
However, he said he was confident from the start that the issue would be resolved. The West Nusa Tenggara Police, which took over the case from Central Lombok Police, decided to suspend Murtede's detention until Andrianto issued directives for the case to be terminated.
Saleh emphasized that the move to name a robbery victim as a suspect must be evaluated for the sake of upholding justice for the public, particularly victims.
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He opined that by putting the probe to a halt, the public can be assured that they do not need to fear when they fight back against crimes. He deemed that one can gauge the effectiveness of the National Police's public order and security program by seeing the extent to which people can defend themselves.
The case of Murtede had drawn public attention because he was named a suspect for killing two armed robbers in defense in a Ganti village street, East Praya sub-district, West Nusa Tenggara, on the morning of April 10, 2022.
The two robbers died on the spot after Murtede fought them to protect himself.
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Translator: Syaiful Hakim, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
