Denpasar, Bali. A court in Bali on Monday sentenced three men for their roles in a fatal shooting that killed an Australian national at a villa in Badung last year, a verdict that drew anger and disappointment from the victim’s family.

The Denpasar District Court handed 16-year prison sentences to Mevlut Coskun and Paea-I-Middlemore Tupou, who were found to be the main perpetrators in the shooting that killed Australian citizen Zivan Radmanovic.

A third defendant, Darcy Francesco Jenson, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for assisting in the premeditated murder.

The ruling was lower than the prosecution’s demand of 18 years in prison for Coskun and Tupou, while Jenson had faced a 17-year sentence request before the court reduced it to 12 years.

The panel of judges, chaired by I Wayan Suarta, ruled that Coskun and Tupou were guilty under Article 459 of Indonesia’s Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 21(1)(b) of Law No. 1/2023 on the Criminal Code.

The case stems from a shooting in the early hours of June 14, when two Australian nationals were attacked while resting at Villa Casa Santisya 1 in Munggu Village, Mengwi District, Badung Regency.

In the incident, Radmanovic was killed while another Australian, Sanar Ghanim, was injured.

Police initially named two suspects in the case, but the number later increased to three following further investigation.

Monday’s proceedings were divided into two sessions. The first hearing, which began at around 10 a.m. local time, focused on Coskun and Tupou, whom prosecutors identified as the shooters responsible for Radmanovic’s death.

Family members of the victim, who attended the hearing, reacted emotionally to the verdict.

Sary Latief, a lawyer representing the victim’s family, said relatives were deeply disappointed by the sentences, describing the reduced punishment as unfair.

“The family sees this as a joke,” Latief told reporters after the hearing. “Initially the charges mentioned the death penalty, then prosecutors demanded 18 years, and now it has been reduced to 16 years. The family is very disappointed.”

He added that the ruling had shaken the family’s trust in the Indonesian legal system.

“They feel that taking someone’s life appears too easy in Bali if the punishment is like this,” Latief said.

Following the verdict, Radmanovic’s wife, Jazmyn Gourdeas, broke down in tears and embraced a relative in the courtroom. She and other family members later left the courthouse without making any public statements.

The hearing for Jenson, who was convicted of assisting the planned attack, took place later the same day.

According to Latief, the family chose not to attend Jenson’s sentencing after the earlier verdicts left them shocked and distressed.

“I advised Jazmyn not to attend Darcy’s hearing because the family was already devastated,” he said.

The trial was attended by several relatives of the victims, including Gourdeas, Radmanovic’s eldest son, and his mother-in-law.

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