Jakarta. A legal activist has nothing but praise for the three judges who delivered the South Jakarta District Court’s first-ever death sentence for a murder case in the high-profile trial of disgraced police general Ferdy Sambo on Monday.

Ferdy, 50, got the capital punishment after the court found him guilty of ordering the July 8, 2022 murder of subordinate Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, against the prosecutors’ recommendation of a life sentence for the defendant.

“It’s worth noting that the South Jakarta District Court has never delivered the death sentence under Article 340 [on premeditated murder],” Irma Natalia Hutabarat told news broadcaster BTV at the courthouse shortly after the sentencing hearing.

Mentioning the three judges by names, Irma, who has no family relations with the murder victim, said they will be written in history “in gold ink” for their courage to deliver a heavier punishment than the prosecution demand against all odds.

“The Indonesian people will remember them as brave judges who delivered a sentence above what prosecutors have demanded … and were able to share the sense of justice with community members,” she said with Yosua’s mother Rosti Simanjuntak standing next to her.

“Hopefully what the three judges did today will forever be remembered as a noble thing.”

The panel in the murder trial comprises Presiding Judge Wahyu Imam Santoso, Judge Morgan Simanjuntak, and Judge Alimin Ribut Sujono. 

Irma has become a familiar face to journalists since before the murder trial began, accompanying Yosua’s family members inside and outside the courthouse in many events.

The former TV journalist is the founder of the non-governmental group Institute of Civic Education on Indonesia.