Brother of Victim in Antasari Trial Tells the Court About His Doubts
Rangga Prakosa | September 23, 2011
Forensics expert Abdul Mun’im Idris testifying at Antasari Azhar’s case review on Thursday. The younger brother of murder victim Nasrudin Zulkarnaen took the stand on Thursday to testify about what he said were the irregularities that led to the conviction of former antigraft czar Antasari Azhar for the crime. JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal Related articles
Indonesian Soldier Imprisoned 13 Years for Murdering His Girlfriend’s Lesbian Lover 3:00pm May 8, 2012
Second Fatal Shooting in Two Weeks in Bandung 7:42pm May 4, 2012
Woman Confesses to Drowning Her Infant in Cikaniki River 3:17pm Apr 30, 2012
Bali Man Kills Wife, Self in Alleged Murder-Suicide 9:18pm Apr 24, 2012
Four Get Life Sentences For Jakarta 'Angkot' Murder, Rape 6:48pm Apr 24, 2012
Post a comment
Please login to post comment
Comments
Be the first to write your opinion!
The younger brother of murder victim Nasrudin Zulkarnaen took the stand on Thursday to testify about what he said were the irregularities that led to the conviction of former antigraft czar Antasari Azhar for the crime.
Andi Syamsudin, who has publicly expressed doubt about the verdict, testified at Antasari’s case review at the South Jakarta District Court.
He said the three high-ranking police officers who said they had uncovered the motive and perpetrator just hours after the murder were never called to testify in Antasari’s trial in late 2009 and early 2010.
Andi said the officers, whose identities he could not recall but who he said held the rank of commissioner, visited him at the hospital where Nasrudin had died just three hours earlier. They showed him photographs of the car in which his brother had been killed in a drive-by shooting.
They also asked if Nasrudin had an adopted daughter named Rani, and Andi said no. Rani was the victim’s third wife and allegedly Antasari’s lover. Prosecutors claimed that Antasari wanted Nasrudin killed after the victim caught him in a compromising position with Rani.
“The officers told me that [the murder] was about a love triangle, but I didn’t believe them,” Andi said.
Despite the officers’ claims to have tied Antasari, then the chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), to the murder immediately after it occurred on March 14, 2009, police only named Antasari a suspect in May. “Those officers were also never presented as witnesses in the trial,” Andi said.
Another aspect of the case that Andi said he found jarring was the appearance the next day, just before Nasrudin’s burial, of two people he had never met before, Jeffrey Lumampow and Etza Imelda Fitri, who vowed to help the family find the mastermind behind the murder.
“I was shocked because I didn’t know them,” Andi said.
Jeffrey and Etza claimed to have copies of threatening text messages allegedly sent by Antasari to Nasrudin shortly before his death, but never showed them to Andi.
An IT expert testified at the earlier trial that the text messages did not come from Antasari’s phone, but this was dismissed by judges at the South Jakarta District Court.
In April, the Judicial Commission said there were indications that the three judges who heard Antasari’s trial may have willfully overlooked key evidence. The commission has since called for the judges to be suspended for six months and face an ethics tribunal.
The Supreme Court has refused to act, saying the judges are protected by judicial immunity.
The Judicial Commission’s findings have served as grounds for Antasari and his legal team to mount a case review, which is their last chance to have his 18-year prison sentence overturned.
Another witness presented during Thursday’s hearing was Abdul Mun’im Idris, a forensics expert. He told the court that the autopsy report presented at Antasari’s earlier trial showed that Nasrudin had suffered a wound to his right temple.
“But the gunshot wound was actually to his left temple,” he said. “This discrepancy wasn’t brought up at the trials of the nine people since convicted for the murder because no one objected to it at the time.”
However, Mun’im conceded that although there had been an oversight, the revelation did not change the circumstances in which Nasrudin had been killed by the gunmen allegedly hired by Antasari.
Another witness, ballistics expert Widodo Harjoprawito, testified in the case review that the two bullets that killed Nasrudin had come from two Smith & Wesson revolvers.
But police only recovered one weapon, a .38 caliber handgun, which an expert at the earlier trial had argued was far too difficult for an amateur to handle, much less shoot precisely at a target in a moving car. Roy Haryanto, a military shooting coach, said the recovered weapon was also poorly maintained, making it more difficult to shoot.
Nasrudin was killed while leaving a golf course in Tangerang by gunmen on motorcycles.
Mun’im had also cast doubt on the Smith & Wesson being the murder weapon, testifying in 2009 that the wounds to Nasrudin’s head were indicative of projectiles fired from an FN pistol.
Lawyers also argued that the gun presented by the prosecution was different from that presented by police during the re-enactment of the murder.
- Tomy Winata to Build Jakarta's Tallest Building
- Indonesia Wilts as Deforestation Moratorium Loopholes Go Unaddressed
- Lady Gaga Angers Thai Fans With Fake Rolex Comment
- Lady Gaga Refuses to Tone Down Her Shows: Manager
- Australia’s Corby Could Walk Free as Soon as Next Year
- Indonesia Set to Cap Bank Owners’ Stakes: Sources
- Singapore Cabby Jailed for Molesting Indonesian Maid
- President's Son Nearly Attacked by Angry Mob
- Indonesia's Chief Justice Demands SBY Explain Corby Clemency
- National Exams' ‘Fantastic’ Passing Rate Suspicious: ICW
-
4:49pm | President's Son Nearly Attacke...
How can on be 'nearly' attacked? All sounds a bit poofy to me. Like his father, he needs to grow some. -
4:47pm | If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Wa...
@agoz are you serious? I still believe every individual is responsible for him/herself, political systems and/or religion have nothing to do -
4:39pm | Former Social Minister to Be R...
By the time the Ministry of health had their cut in the mark up pricing of the vaccine, the mark up on the syringes and the cut off the top ... -
4:38pm | HRWG Deplores Yudhoyono's 'Lac...
Perhaps HRWG should learn something about the case, rather than exposing itself as a sham, full of self serving people. Hey, HRWG, s -
4:26pm | More Muslim Groups Demand Canc...
Wonder where the 1 mio radicals were today... they were supposed to show up in front of Police Headquarters... -
4:19pm | If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Wa...
indeed, democratic system should be replaced by installing Chaliphate that rule us with sharia. Democracy leave us a big hole for decadency, allow -
4:18pm | More Muslim Groups Demand Canc...
... yes agoz... ban all and everything... incl. beer of course... hahahaha ... what a sad little life you live... you might really consider moving -
4:18pm | More Muslim Groups Demand Canc...
But agoz - the Indonesian govt is pushing for dangdut to be recognised by UNESCO... I agree with minister - dont like it dont go. I dont l
