JAKARTA: The Semarang District Court has handed down a sentence of 15 years in prison to Second Adj Insp Robig Zaenudin, an officer with the Semarang Police’s narcotics division, after finding him guilty in the fatal shooting of teenager GRO on Nov 24 last year in the Central Java capital.
In addition to shooting GRO who was a student at SMKN 4 Semarang vocational high school to death, Robig was also found guilty of wounding the victim’s schoolmates AD and ST, who suffered firearm injuries to their chest and fingers, respectively.
Presiding judge Mirna Sendangsari said the defendant had violated Article 80 of the 2024 Child Protection Law, under which an individual who commits violence that results in the injury or death of a minor can be charged with a criminal offence.
“The defendant is also ordered to pay a fine of Rp 200 million [US$12,229] or serve an additional one month in prison,” Mirna said on Friday (Aug 8) during the sentence hearing.
The punishment matches the sentence demand prosecutors presented to the court on July 8. In his defence, Robig claimed that the three teenagers had posed a threat to his life
The judicial panel disagreed, however, after hearing evidence and witness testimonies during his trial that indicated the teenagers were just passing through and were not carrying any weapons, nor did they point any weapons at Robig or others.
In a testimony delivered to the House of Representatives following the incident last November, then Semarang Police chief Sr Comr Irwan Anwar said Robig was on his way home from work when he encountered several teenagers riding motorcycles after a nearby school brawl.
One unidentified teenager, believed to be a member of the losing group, nearly collided with the police officer as they sped past, pursued by three other teenagers on motorcycles, including GRO.
Irwan said Robig waited until the pursuing group made a U-turn and headed back toward him, opening fire as they passed. But the Central Java Police internal affairs division later said Robig’s decision to open fire on the students was unconnected with any attempt to break up the brawl, and named him as a suspect in the case.
Meanwhile, Irwan was removed as Semarang Police chief and reassigned as the head of the Police Professional Consultation Institute at the Police Science College (STIK), although the National Police denied his transfer was related to the shooting case.
A separate ethics hearing dishonourably dismissed Robig after finding him guilty of misconduct, but his dismissal has been effectively suspended pending a decision on the appeal he subsequently filed.
GRO’s family welcomed Robig’s 15-year prison sentence with tears of joy, saying that their fight for justice had borne fruit.
“The sentence was in line with the hopes of the family, which hoped the judge would punish the defendant as severely as possible,” the victim’s father Andi Prabowo said after the hearing.
Andi also said the family hoped the police would process Robig’s appeal against the ethics ruling so he would be dismissed from the force. Herry Darman, a member of Robig’s legal team, said they would think about possible next steps, including appealing their client’s 15-year prison sentence.
“We respect the judges’ verdict, but we are going to push for other legal measures. We hope the judges will consider the human factor in this case,” Herry said.
Lawyer Zaenal Petir, who represented GRO’s family, said the sentence was both appropriate and professional. He also expressed confidence that any attempt to appeal the court’s decision would be rejected.
“But if the appeal is granted and then the punishment is reduced, maybe this is something that should be investigated by the Supreme Court. But I’m sure the appeal will be rejected,” he said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
