The Mitsubishi Outlander Christopher drove right after the incident.
Yesterday we witnessed yet another appalling travesty of justice from the Indonesian court system when 23-year-old Christopher Daniel Sjarief, who killed four people in an attempted hit-and-run in Pondok Indah on January 20, was given a suspended sentence by Judge Made Sustisna in the South Jakarta District Court. Meaning it is very likely Christopher will not have to spend any time in jail whatsoever for his heinous crime.
There is still a glimmer of hope that the ruling could be rectified, however, as the country’s Judicial Commission said it would investigate the sentencing and see if Judge Made was guilty of any breaches of ethics
“If it later turns out there was a meeting between the judge and the family of the accused, the judge will be sanctioned for violating the code of ethics,” said Imam Anshori, the Commissioner of the Judicial Commission, as quoted by Tempo today.
Imam said the Judicial Commission would respect Judge Made’s decision for now, as the Judicial Commission did not have a team overseeing Christopher’s case. He said the commission had requested a copy of the trial indictment and verdict for examination.
“It will take a maximum of 90 days [for us to reach a decision]. But, hopefully it can be done more quickly, possibly in less than one month,” Imam said.
When delivering his verdict, Judge Made said that Christopher had been given leniency because his family had paid money to the families of the victims and he had been “very polite” in court.
There have been numerous irregularities in the way authorities have handled Christopher’s case.
On January 20, Christopher drove his friend’s car in Pondok Indah recklessly and crashed into multiple vehicles, killing four and injuring two others. The police initially said that Christopher tested positive for LSD consumption, only for that statement to be retracted several days later after another drug test cleared Christopher of drug charges.
Another controversy arose in May when Christopher was allowed to leave prison and serve “city detention” instead during his ongoing trial.
