Indonesian Prosecution Wants 5-Year Sentence in Gender Case
Heru Andriyanto | October 13, 2010
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401030Just leave this poor couple alone. All this 'habla' about 'harming religious and moral values' are growing out of my ears and throat.
Jane is an adult and actually it is just about her parents who brought this entire case in front of the law(ehem). At least the first accusation about abduction failed.
ANd really this home grown prosecutors have no consideration about medical conditions, I wonder how many of them actually have real certificates and not falsified ones to get the job in the first place ( at least they are acting and arguing exactly like that - very low educated)
Why do I care about some one changing his/her gender? The prosecutor could spend better time and money (which are paid by tax payers) to prosecute corruption cases.
"Speaking after the hearing, Alterina said the prosecutor was overreacting, and that HE believed HE had broken no law."
You go, Jakarta Globe
The prosecutors show an appalling lack of knowledge and wisdom in this case - but are there still prosecutors left who DO exercise wisdom and, if possible, compassion in their evaluation of cases? It does seem most of them intend to cause fellow humans the most misery and suffering they're capable of devising. How very sadistic it is. Alterina and Jane, I hope and pray you will have a happy future together. Perhaps you'll obtain that AFTER you leave Indonesia, and settle down somewhere else.
What a very backwards and unconsidered verdict. In this country congressmen, civil servants get away with serious corruption cases and this poor soul is being given such a heavy sentence only because there was a confusion at birth of it's gender. How pathetic! In other words, criminals get a lighter sentence what a very sad case this is. Leave them alone and let them be happy.
Jakarta. Prosecutors at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday recommended that Alterina Hofan, who claims to have been born a man with a gender-blurring chromosome disorder, be jailed five years for falsifying documents in order to marry a woman.
“The defendant has illegally switched her gender status on her ID to male and used the false documents to marry Jane Deviyanti in a normal marriage between a man and a woman,” prosecutor Sutikno said.
“In fact, the defendant is a woman. Jane Deviyanti is also a woman. Their marriage has harmed judicial and religious values in this country because no law and no religion in Indonesia recognizes same-sex marriage,” he said.
Sutikno said the marriage had greatly upset Jane’s parents, who had opposed it from the beginning.
The prosecutor also criticized Alterina for not telling the truth and showing no remorse.
“She must be taken accountable for the crime,” Sutikno said.
Speaking after the hearing, Alterina said the prosecutor was overreacting, and that he believed he had broken no law.
“I was recommended a heavy sentence because of my struggle to get recognition for my true identity,” Alterina said, with Jane at his side.
“I myself oppose same-sex marriage; it’s against the law and religious values here. But it is not my case, because I am a man,” the 33-year-old said.
Alterina has earlier spoken out against a characterization of his marriage by Bishop Benny Susetyo as “same-sex.”
Sutikno said Alterina had illegally obtained an official family card that showed him as being the husband and Jane the wife.
Alterina had also asked Jane to show her parents their marriage certificate issued in US state of Nevada on Sept. 9, 2008.
Presiding Judge Sudarwin adjourned the case until Oct. 26 to hear the defense statement.
On the recommendation from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Alterina was granted conditional release in May, with court recognizing the defendant as the family’s sole supporter.
Alterina’s lawyers have said that their client suffered from the Klinefelter syndrome, a condition in which the male genitalia develops only later, during adolescence, resulting in confusion when registering the baby for a birth certificate.
Jane’s parents, who had opposed the couple’s marriage in Las Vegas reported Alterina to the police.
Their earlier accusation of abducting Jane failed after their daughter said she had gone with her husband willingly.
Prosecutors said a police DNA test proved Alterina was female.
However, Kores Tambunan, one of Alterina’s lawyers, said the prosecution ignored an independent gender test conducted by experts at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, which concluded Alterina was male.
Catherine, the defendant’s mother, said her son’s identity was never falsified.
She added that because his male genitalia had not developed at birth, she had registered Alterina as a girl.
In an earlier hearing, Alterina had met a request from Sudarwin to show his genitals behind closed doors at the court, as part of “key consideration” in the case.
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