JAKARTA — A disgraced Indonesian former police general has been sentenced to death for the murder of a subordinate in a case that highlights corruption and other scandals in the police force, as the nation falls in international anti-graft rankings.
Ferdy Sambo, a former inspector general in the National Police, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of his adjutant, Brig. Gen. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, as well as of attempting to destroy evidence.
The killing occurred at Sambo’s residence in Jakarta last July. Two of Sambo’s other subordinates, his wife and the family’s driver face six to 12 years behind bars for their various roles in the murder.
A judge in a South Jakarta district court read the verdict “declaring that defendant Ferdy Sambo was proven convincingly and validly guilty of… participating in a premeditated murder.” The judgment was broadcast live on local TV, including Sambo’s death sentence.
Sambo had previously maintained his innocence, claiming that Hutabarat was killed in a gunfight with another adjutant. He also accused the deceased of sexually assaulting his wife. Prosecutors had earlier sought life imprisonment for him.
Initial investigations into Sambo were slowed by a cover-up involving dozens of police officers, many of whom had worked under him.