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Indonesia | Appeals court hands down death penalty for murderers of Medan judge

The Medan High Court in North Sumatra has handed down the death sentence to 2 murder convicts found guilty of assassinating judge Jamaluddin in November last year.

The sentence in the appellate case is heavier than the initial sentence from the Medan District Court, which had sentenced the two defendants, Jefri Pratama and Reza Fahlevi, to life imprisonment and 20 years of jail time, respectively.

The ruling of the high court judges was announced on the Supreme Court’s website mahkamahagung.go.id on Monday.

Judges Ronius, Purnowo Edi Santosa and Kosbin Lumban Gaol argued that Jefri and Reza, who happened to be brothers, had committed such a “sadistic and inhuman act” by carrying out a premeditated murder against Jamaluddin, a judge with the Medan District Court, that they deserved the capital punishment.

Jefri and Reza reportedly smothered judge Jamaluddin to death while the victim was asleep at his house. The killing was apparently spearheaded by the judge’s wife, Zuraida Hanum, who had found out about her husband’s affair with another woman.

The incident took place at around 1 a.m. on Nov. 29 at the judge’s residence in the Royal Monaco housing complex, Medan. Jamaluddin’s body was found on the same day at around 1 p.m. inside a black car parked on an oil palm plantation in Suka Dame village, Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra.

The Medan District Court has sentenced Zuraida to death, which was affirmed by the high court. All three defendants were charged under Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder.

Source: Jakarta Post, Staff, September 23, 2020


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