Jakarta. The ongoing review of the guilty verdict of Saka Tatal, one of the convicts in the 2016 deaths of Vina Dewi Arsita and her boyfriend, could affect the legal status of seven co-convicts in the case, a retired high-ranking police officer said in a recent interview.

Saka requested the review, the last legal avenue to overturn a conviction in Indonesia’s justice system, arguing that he was tortured and forced to confess to the murders by police and falsely convicted by the court in 2016.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison for the murders but was released four years ago for good behavior. However, seven co-convicts received life imprisonment, which offers no sentence cuts.

"If his judicial review is accepted, seven other convicts will most likely request the same, and the result will be identical,” Insp. General (ret.) Aryanto Sutadi said in an interview with BTV aired on Thursday.

Aryanto, who currently serves as an advisor to the national police chief, argued that the eight convicts were tried collectively under the same indictments. If the Supreme Court accepts the appeal of one defendant, it must treat his co-defendants equally.

New evidence and a recent decision by a key witness in the murder case to retract his testimonies could prove vital in the judicial review proceedings, he added.

Prosecution witness Dede Riswanto, who told police in 2016 that he saw the convicts chasing Vina and her boyfriend on motorcycles while carrying stones and bamboo sticks on the night just before their deaths, recently said he had lied to investigators on the order of the male victim’s father, Rudiana, who is a policeman.

"The latest evidence and testimonies indicate that they weren’t involved in the murders and rape. This case seems to be a fatal traffic accident but was fabricated into a murder and rape case," Aryanto said.

Police accused the eight convicts of murdering the couple and gang-raping Vina in Cirebon, West Java, on August 27, 2016.

Saka, despite being officially declared a free man on Wednesday after receiving sentence cuts, filed a judicial review to clear his name and restore his reputation.

The seven convicts serving life imprisonment include Jaya, 23; Supriyanto, 20; Eka Sandi, 24; Hadi Saputra, 23; Eko Ramadani, 27; Sudirman, 21; and Rivaldi Aditya Wardana, 21.

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