The logo of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) adorns the front of its Jakarta headquarters.- Police/File
JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) has charged a low-ranking police officer with premeditated murder in the mysterious death of Brig Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat at the home of then-internal affairs chief Insp Gen Ferdy Sambo last month.
The new suspect is Brig Ricky Rizal, who at the time of the incident was on duty as an aide de camp and chauffeur to Ferdy's wife, according to Bareskrim director for general crimes Brig Gen. Andi Rian Djajadi.
“We have found two new pieces of evidence, enough to arrest Brig Ricky Rizal on suspicion of premeditated murder. He is now being held in Bareskrim detention in Jakarta,” Andi said on Sunday (Aug 7) as reported by kompas.com.
Premeditated murder under Article 340 of the Criminal Code carries a maximum penalty of the death penalty or life in prison.
Ricky was the second officer to be charged in relation to the death of Yosua, after Ferdy's aide de camp, Second Agent Richard Eliezer, was named a suspect last week.
Richard was charged with a lesser count of murder that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
On Saturday night, the police also detained Ferdy over possible professional ethics violations with regard to tampering with evidence.
The two-star police general could be charged with a felony if there is any indication he violated Article 221 or Article 233 of the Criminal Code, which govern tampering with evidence, experts have said.
Yosua was killed on July 8 in what the police initially claimed was a fatal shootout between him and Richard.
According to the police’s initial account, the incident unfolded after Yosua attempted to assault Ferdy's wife in her bedroom. Richard supposedly confronted Yosua after hearing Ferdy’s wife scream, and Yosua supposedly drew his firearm and fired at Richard.
According to the account, Richard returned fire and killed Yosua at around 5pm on July 8.
Public suspicions were raised over discrepancies between the account provided by Yosua’s family — who claimed he was tortured before he was killed, as shown by the bruises and cuts on his body — and official police statements.
Allegations of a cover-up grew louder in response to the police’s claim that not a single CCTV camera at the residence had been working during the incident.
This prompted the President to call for “due process” in investigating the case, and the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) launched an independent probe into the fatal shooting.
Following public demands for transparency, the police suspended Ferdy, Internal Security Bureau chief Brig. Gen. Hendra Kurniawan and South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Budhi Herdi Susianto.
National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo said 25 officers from the internal affairs division (Propam), the Jakarta Police and the South Jakarta Police, including Ferdy and two other unidentified police generals, were being investigated for potential ethics breaches over their actions at the crime scene.
Listyo recently said the CCTV at Ferdy’s house had actually been functioning when the incident occurred but that the recordings had either been hidden or destroyed.
Komnas HAM commissioner Ahmad Taufan urged the police to give the commission access to the CCTV footage when it became available.
"We should not just take Richard's statement at face value. The CCTV footage is key. That's why we're very adamant about asking the police to reveal the footage to us," Ahmad said at a press conference on Monday.
Richard applied for “justice collaborator” status on Sunday, his lawyers said as quoted by Tempo.co, a designation that would see him cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for certain protections.
He is also seeking support from the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK). Tempo reported that after his application to assist the prosecution, Richard changed his statement, claiming that he did not shoot Yosua.
Instead, he said he had witnessed Ferdy holding a gun next to Yosua's lifeless body on the day of the incident.
But on Monday, his lawyer Muhammad Boerhanuddin said Richard and several other officers did, in fact, shoot Yosua at the order of their "superior".
"Richard was the first one to shoot [Yosua]. [He] got the instruction from a superior. There was more than one perpetrator. There was no shootout," the lawyer said, without revealing the names of the other alleged shooters or the superior, as reported by tribunnews.com.
Experts and civil groups have called on the police to seek to ensure that all the perpetrators, including any at more senior levels, are uncovered.
