Jakarta. The father of slain officer Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat expressed disappointment on Tuesday with the prosecution's demand of life imprisonment for the suspected mastermind of the murder, former police general Ferdy Sambo, who he said deserves the capital punishment.

“It was clearly stated [by prosecutors] that there are no mitigating factors in his criminal conduct. They should have recommended the maximum punishment under Article 340,” Samuel Hutabarat told BTV’s night talk show host Fristian Griec.

He was referring to the premeditated murder article of the Criminal Code which carries the death sentence.

Prosecutors said the July 8 murder was motivated by Ferdy’s anger after he learned that Yosua had raped his wife Putri Candrawathi – a claim that the defendant has repeatedly told the South Jakarta District Court without offering any evidence.

“My son was murdered, and to add insult to injury, he is now slandered,” Samuel said.

He went on further by saying that in all hearings, Ferdy was unable to prove his claim that Yosua had raped his wife during a trip to the Central Java town of Magelang.

“Love affair? There is no living witness to support that claim either. Show me any evidence,” the angry father said.

Putri and the suspected shooter Second Patrolman Richard Eliezer are being tried separately by the same court.

Samuel also criticized prosecutors who recommended a sentence of eight years in prison for Brigadier Ricky Rizal, who allegedly knew in advance about the murder plot and witnessed the murder at Ferdy’s official residence in South Jakarta but did nothing to prevent it.

A similar sentencing demand was sought for Ferdy’s personal assistant Kuat Maruf, who stands trial as a suspected accomplice in the murder.

“Our son was brutally murdered and Ricky Rizal is a policeman who knows well about the law. He took away my late son’s gun when they left Magelang. He knew firsthand about Ferdy Sambo’s murder plot but didn’t tell my son despite their long friendship,” Samuel said.

He questioned the prosecution's demand which treats Ricky on a par with Kuat.

Yosua was shot multiple times by Richard on the order of Ferdy, who also fired the final shot at the victim, according to the indictment.

Ferdy is also accused of obstruction of justice along with six other officers for staging the crime scene and tampering with evidence in their attempt to cover up the murder.

The initial police report said that Yosua died in a shootout with Eliezer without mentioning murder.

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