At a trial session here on Monday, Chief Judge Wahyu Iman Santoso said that Sambo has been proven to have violated Article 340 subsidiary Article 338 in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) Number 1 of the Criminal Code.
Sambo also violated Article 49 in conjunction with Article 33 of Law No. 19 of 2016 on Changes to Law No. 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transaction, in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) Number 1 of the Criminal Code, the judge added.
Based on this consideration, Santoso said that the judges do not have sufficient confidence that Hutabarat perpetrated sexual violence against Putri Candrawathi, Sambo's wife—the reason that Sambo had cited as justification for the murder.
Moreover, the judge informed that they had sufficient confidence that Sambo's action constituted a premeditated murder.
Santoso cited Sambo's misguided behavior in relation to his position as a high-ranking officer in the Indonesian Police as an aggravating factor in deciding the death sentence for the defendant.
"The defendant's action has dragged a large number of police officers (into the crime)," the judge stated.
The judge's decision to sentence Sambo to death was harsher than the life sentence sought by prosecutors at an earlier trial session on January 17, 2023.
Sambo was one of the five defendants in the premeditated murder of Brigadier J. The other defendants are Ricky Rizal, Richard Eliezer, Putri Candrawathi, and Kuat Ma'ruf.
The five defendants were charged with violating Article 340, subsidiary Article 338 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) Number 1 of the Criminal Code.
In two trial sessions on January 16, prosecutors sought eight years in prison for Candrawathi, Ma’ruf, and Rizal. Meanwhile, the prosecutors sought 12 years for Eliezer at a trial session on January 18.
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Translator: Putu Indah S, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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