Indonesians riled after top cop escapes death penalty for murder of bodyguard, but activists say he has ‘right to live’
- General Ferdy Sambo had been sentenced to death in February for killing his aide and trying to cover it up with a fake shoot-out involving another officer
- Amid anger over the Supreme Court’s decision, questions have also been raised over the transparency of Indonesia’s legal process and a lack of accountability in the police force
Indonesia’s top court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a police official who killed his aide, a decision that has triggered disbelief and raised questions in the country about the transparency of the legal process.
Ferdy Sambo, a former two-star general and head of Indonesia’s internal affairs department, was found guilty of premeditated murder after his bodyguard, 27-year-old Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, was shot dead at Sambo’s Jakarta home in July last year.
The case gripped the nation, and its ensuing trial was widely seen as a test of police accountability.
Sambo received the maximum sentence in February, a ruling widely viewed as a sign of justice for Hutabarat and his family. But the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday to commute Sambo’s sentence to life in prison on appeal led many people to express their disappointment on social media.
Berlian Simarmata, a lecturer in criminal law at Santo Thomas Catholic University in Medan, said while the decision was not what people wanted to hear, it was “still within the corridor of the law” and under the authority of the Supreme Court.
“Legally, there is nothing wrong with the Supreme Court’s decision, but materially people will have different opinions about the verdict,” he said.
He added that according to Indonesia’s new Criminal Code that will be phased in by 2026, Sambo would be able to apply to have his life term commuted to 20 years after he serves a minimum of 15 years behind bars, meaning he is likely to be eligible for release in the future.
The Supreme Court also reduced the sentences of Sambo’s co-accused, with his wife Putri Candrawathi’s 20-year jail time halved. Her assistant Kuat Ma’ruf’s sentence was cut from 15 years to 10 years, and police officer Ricky Rizal Wibowo’s 13-year sentence was shortened to eight years. Another police officer Richard Eliezer Pudihang Lumiu received an 18-month sentence at the original trial and was paroled on August 4.
Sambo’s case takes place amid a trying period for Indonesia’s police force, which already has a reputation for corruption, cronyism and extrajudicial violence.
Just before Sambo’s trial started last October, police fired tear gas at football fans at Kanjuruhan stadium in the city of Malang, resulting in a deadly crush that left 135 people dead, including young children.
In March this year, two police officers involved in the tear gas incident were found not guilty on charges of negligence leading to injury and death, while a third was sentenced to just 18 months in prison.
02:22
High-ranking Indonesian police official sentenced to death for murdering fellow officer
Jacqui Baker, a fellow of the Indo-Pacific Research Centre at Murdoch University in Australia, said that while Sambo’s trial had been held up as a litmus test of police accountability, it had obscured the case at Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, where hundreds died in a crush that had involved many police officers, highlighting the systemic violence carried out by the Indonesian force.
“The police orchestrated Sambo’s trial like a soap opera and a case of good cop versus bad cop to distract from wider structural issues within Indonesia’s police force,” Baker said.
As a result, the commutation of the death sentence could be viewed as a further sign of continued police impunity in Indonesia and a lack of accountability when Indonesian police officers use violence to deadly effect, she added.
“It also just rubs salt in the wounds of the victims of Kanjuruhan,” she said.
It is still unclear what led to the shooting of Hutabarat at Sambo’s home, although prosecutors at the trial suggested that Hutabarat had been having an affair with Sambo’s wife. Sambo and Candrawathi claimed that Hutabarat had tried to sexually assault Candrawathi and had been the first to fire shots at Sambo when he confronted him.
Usman Hamid, director of Amnesty Indonesia, said that public sentiment had been divided regarding Sambo’s death sentence, but that “dominant public opinion had wanted to see him executed”.
But he said that Amnesty Indonesia supported the judge’s decision to commute the sentence.
“We agree that Sambo’s actions constituted a serious crime, especially considering his capacity as head of internal affairs. However, even though he needed to be severely punished, we think that he still had the right to live,” he said.
“All forms of crimes prohibited by international law committed by state apparatus must be punished, but must still be fair, without having to impose the death penalty, which is an outdated punishment.”
Capital punishment remains part of the Indonesian legal system for a range of crimes including premeditated murder, drug trafficking, corruption and terrorism.
