Heru Andriyanto

Antasari Azhar could face the death sentence if he is found guilty of arranging the murder of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen. (Antara Photo)

Antasari Banking on 550-Page Defense to Save Him

In possibly the toughest case a former prosecutor has ever had to fight, Antasari Azhar will reportedly come armed with his team of lawyers and a 550-page defense today to battle against the death sentence he is facing for allegedly masterminding the murder of businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen.

“Antasari himself will read 50 pages of personal defense. His lawyers, however, have separately come prepared with their own arguments, about 500-pages worth,” said Ari Yusuf Amir, one of Antasari’s attorneys.

“Unlike the prosecution, which made their sentencing demand based merely on assumptions and interviews in police dossiers, our arguments rely on facts, particularly those revealed during the hearings,” Ari said in a phone interview

When his trial opened in October, Antasari, a long-time prosecutor at the Attorney General’s Office, implicitly warned his former colleagues against seeking the maximum punishment in the case. He reminded them that when leading the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), he had refrained from prosecuting top AGO officials over a bribery scandal.

Now, faced with the death penalty, his defense is being eagerly awaited.

Another of his lawyers, Hotma Sitompul, said earlier that no witness had explicitly told the court that Antasari was the brains behind the mafia-style murder in March.

Antasari served as the AGO’s director of prosecution before he became KPK chairman in December 2007.

Ari declined to elaborate on the content of today’s defense, saying all would be revealed during the hearing at the South Jakarta District Court.

Today’s hearing will also involve co-defendants Wiliardi Wizar, a middle-ranking policeman who is accused of recruiting hit men to carry out the murder, and alleged middleman Jerry Hermawan Lo, who postponed his plea, which was initially scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday.

Prosecutors have also recommended the death sentence for Wiliardi and 15 years in jail for Jerry.

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