Indonesia Supreme Court Rejects Appeal from Man Convicted of Raping 13 Students

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Supreme Court rejected the appeal by Herry Wirawan, an Islamic boarding school teacher who was sentenced to death in April last year for raping 13 students in different places, including on the school premises.

This announcement was published on the Supreme Court website on Tuesday, Jan. 3, following the verdict given by a panel of three Supreme Court justices led by Sri Murwahyuni on Dec. 24, 2022.

Previously, during the court proceedings at the Bandung District Court, prosecutors demanded a death sentence for the 37-year-old man. But, the judge's panel sentenced him to life imprisonment.

In response to the verdict, the Bandung prosecutors then filed an appeal to the Bandung High Court and their appeal had been granted. The high court handed down the death sentence to Herry.

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“The appeal by prosecutors has been granted. The defendant is found guilty of the crimes for which he is sentenced to death,” a court document quoted the Bandung High Court’s judge’s panel who was led by Herri Swantoro on Monday, April 4, 2022.

Herry was found guilty of raping and impregnating his students from 2016 to 2021. Some of the victims have given birth, according to a previous report.

Courts documents stated that he had raped his students at the boarding school, apartment, and hotel rooms. Herry was known as a religion teacher who also chaired the foundation of his Islamic boarding school in West Java.

He then filed his appeal to the Supreme Court. But it was rejected.

(Writer: Syakirun Ni'am | Editor: Novianti Setuningsih)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/01/04/07400461/kasasi-ditolak-herry-wirawan-pemerkosa-13-santriwati-tetap-divonis-mati.