Most Citizens Consider a Five-Year Prison Sentence the Most Appropriate Punishment for Richard Eliezer

The South Jakarta District Court sentenced Richard Eliezer to 1 year and 6 months on Wednesday (February 15, 2023). The defendant, known as Bharada E, was found guilty of premeditated murder of Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, or Brigadier J, on July 8, 2022.

The judge's sentence was significantly lighter than the 12-year prison sentence demanded by the Public Prosecutor (JPU). One of the judge's considerations was Richard Eliezer's status as a witness-turned-collaborator or *justice collaborator*.

The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) conducted a survey to gauge public perception of the appropriate punishment for the executor of the murder orchestrated by former Head of the Police Professional and Security Division (Propam), Ferdy Sambo.

The results showed that the majority of respondents (26.9%) believed a 5-year prison sentence was appropriate for Richard Eliezer. A 10-year sentence was the second most popular choice at 14.5%, followed by a 20-year sentence at 7.5%.

Only 4.6% of respondents chose a sentence equivalent to the judge's verdict of 1.5 years. 23.3% responded "don't know" or "didn't answer."

According to LSI, these legal cases have attracted widespread attention, not only because they feel close to people's lives, but also because they put legal institutions and law enforcement agencies under public scrutiny.

"This public scrutiny can lead to negative or positive perceptions, and impact the level of trust in legal institutions," wrote LSI in the introduction to its report.

Interviews were conducted with 1,228 respondents aged 17 and over using the *random digit dialing* (RDD) method. LSI stated that RDD is a technique for selecting samples via randomly selected telephone numbers.

Respondents were interviewed by telephone by trained interviewers from February 10-17, 2023.

The survey's margin of error is estimated at ±2.9% with a 95% confidence level, assuming simple random sampling.

The following are the proportions of public perception regarding the appropriate sentence for Richard Eliezer:

* 5-year prison sentence: 26.9% of total respondents
* 10-year prison sentence: 14.5%
* 20-year prison sentence: 7.5%
* Life imprisonment: 5.9%
* Acquittal: 5.6%
* 1.5-year prison sentence: 4.6%
* Death penalty: 3.7%
* 1-year prison sentence: 1.7%
* 2-year prison sentence: 1.1%
* Dismissal from the Police: 0.8%
* Other: 4.5%
* Don't know/Didn't answer: 23.3%

(Also read: [Geger Putusan Ferdy Sambo, Berapa Banyak Kasus Vonis Mati di Indonesia?](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2023/02/14/geger-putusan-ferdy-sambo-berapa-banyak-kasus-vonis-mati-di-indonesia))