The South Jakarta District Court today found two police officers guilty for the assault and murder of four members of the now-defunct hardline group the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), but allowed them to go free, ruling that they had acted in self-defense.
In a highly-anticipated conclusion to the trial of M. Yusmin Ohorella and Fikri Ramadhan at the South Jakarta District Court today, presiding Judge M. Arif Nuryanta argued that the killings were “justified.”
“[The Court] rules [the defendants] cannot be criminally punished because [the shootings were] justified and forgiven,” the judge said in the verdict.
Prosecutors previously sought six years’ imprisonment for both M. Yusmin and Fikri. The two cops were involved in a shootout between them and six FPI members at an interchange in Karawang, West Java on December 7, 2020.
During the incident, two FPI members were reportedly killed during the shootout, while four others died in custody on their way to the Jakarta Metro Police HQ.
The court heard in a previous hearing that four men were shot dead in a police vehicle on Cikampek Toll Road as they attempted to attack the cops in the car.
Another police officer, Elwira Priyadi Zendrato, was supposed to stand trial for the killings as well, but passed away on Jan. 4, 2021, a day after he was involved in a single traffic accident. A local outlet reported that Elwira’s death was only mentioned by the police on March 26, 2021, during the trial of the other two officers.
The victims were identified as Muhammad Reza, 20, Ahmad Sofyan, 26, Faiz Ahmad Syukur, 22, and Muhammad Suci Khadavi, 21.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) previously labeled the deaths of the four as “unlawful killings” while the other two died in an act of law enforcement.
The chairman of the 212 Alumni Brotherhood (PA 212), Slamet Ma’arif, who followed the trial, said that he was disappointed with its outcome.
“So who killed them? Genderuwo (a vengeful spirit in Indonesian folklore)?” he said.
The 212 Alumni Brotherhood had ties with FPI for initiating an infamous rally back in 2016 demanding former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama to be imprisoned for alleged blasphemy.
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