Death penalty for the teacher who raped 13 girls in Islamic boarding school

Liputan6.com, Bandung - The Supreme Court upholds the death sentence for Herry Wirawan (37), the teacher who raped 13 girls at the Islamic boarding school in West Java. Previously, he received a life sentence.

On the court's official website, Herry Wirawan's appeal was rejected as of Thursday (5/1/2023).

Earlier, Herry was sentenced to death by the Bandung court. Lawyer for the victims' families, Yudi Kurnia, praised the sentence as it would bring justice to the victims, although Herry's crimes could not be erased.

"They feel satisfied although that will not erase history, because this will be on family's record even for generations to come," said Yudi Kurnia on Wednesday.

Yudi said the families were disappointed by the previous life sentence. But now the death sentence has fulfilled their hope.

Furthermore, Herry Wirawan must pay restitution for his victims who were students at the Islamic boarding school in Bandung city.

Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil, also supported the death sentence. He described the punishment as "exact and just, therefore fulfills the society's sense of justice".

However, Herry's legal team is currently trying to pursue cassation.

The Nasional Commission of Human Rights gave mixed responsed about this sentence. They have noted that the defendant still has right for cassation, and also given reminder that the death penalty is increasingly abolished in the world.

Supports for the death sentence also comes from the parliament, The deputy chief of Commission VIII, Ace Hasan Syadzili, hoped that this sentence will prevent similar crimes in the future. 

Commission VIII has the authority to oversee the social affairs. Ace recognized the controversy about this punishment, but he believed this would bring justice for the victims. 

"That way, the healing trauma can be accelerated, so the victims can feel the justice of this punishment," said Ace from the Golkar Party. 

Amnesty Indonesia, however, rejected this sentence. They re-affirmed that the death sentence would violate the rights to live. 

Instead, Amnesty encourages the government to pass the anti-sexual assaults bill which has been supported by the human rights activists in Indonesia, but still unable to gain solid political backing in the parliament.

"Punishing just one person will not change the situation. Amnesty fully hopes that the anti-sexual assaults bill will be passed immediately, because Amnesty views this as something that is very urgent," said Amnesty International Indonesia researcher, Keanu Arief.

Huyugo Simbolon, Fachrur Rozie, Maria Flora, and Nanda Perdana Putra contributed to this report.