The end of Ferdy Sambo’s lengthy and exhausting murder trial is in sight, with prosecutors demanding life imprisonment for the former police general over the murder of his bodyguard, police brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat.
Prosecution made the demand during today’s trial at the South Jakarta District Court, arguing that Sambo deserves to be locked away for life for his role in the premeditated murder of Yosua.
Under Indonesia’s Criminal Code (KUHP), premeditated murder is a crime punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Yosua’s family said they’re not satisfied with the demand, calling on the judge to disregard the prosecution and give the maximum punishment to Sambo if he’s found guilty.
“The judge must be more wise in the name of justice,” Yosua’s aunt, Rohani Simanjuntak, said today.
“[What he] deserves is the death penalty.”
On July 8, 2022, police said that Yosua was gunned down by his colleague, Private Second Class Richard Eliezer, in a shootout at the South Jakarta home of their boss, then-Internal Affairs Division Chief Inspector General Ferdy Sambo. The official line from the police then was that Yosua had molested his boss’ wife, Putri Chandrawati, and threatened to kill her, before firing at Eliezer first after he was caught.
After intense public pressure amid glaring discrepancies in the case, an investigation by a special task force said that Sambo himself ordered the murder. In addition, there was allegedly no shootout, as Sambo staged the crime scene to look like there had been one.
Throughout the trial, prosecution concluded through evidence obtained that Yosua did not molest Putri but that they had an affair, which drove Sambo to order Yosua’s death. But the victim’s family shot down that theory, as Yosua was in a healthy relationship with his girlfriend.
In addition to Sambo, Eliezer, Putri, and several other accomplices have also been charged with murder, but there is strong suspicion that the conspiracy to cover up the murder involved dozens more members of the police force.
