​Unbelievable: Prosecutor only asks for 2.5 year sentence for Pondok Indah car rampage driver that killed 4

White Mitsubishi Outlander destroyed after Christopher crashed the car into multiple vehicles, killing four people

Christopher Daniel Sjarief, the college student who killed 4 motorists and injured several more during a hit and run in Pondok Indah on January 20, looks like he won’t be punished to the full extent of the law. Not even close.

At the South Jakarta District Court today, Public Prosecutor Agus Kurniawan asked that judges hand down a much shorter prison sentence to Christopher than what is usually the norm for a deadly hit and run.

“We are demanding a prison sentence of 2 years and 6 months, along with a Rp 10 million fine or 1 additional month in prison,” Agus read out in court today, as quoted by Kompas

Agus said Christopher violated Article 310 subsection 4 and 3 of Traffic Law number 22 in 2009, which should’ve meant that Christopher should be charged with 12 years in prison.

But Agus explained that the prosecution’s sentencing demand was lenient because Christopher, through his family, had given significant amounts of money to the victims’ families. Christopher also supposedly regretted his actions and behaved very politely during his trial.

But it’s difficult not to be suspicious of any dealings between Christopher’s family and the prosecutors. According to Warta Kota, Agus didn’t dare to make eye contact with head Judge Made Sutrisna as he read out the prosecutor’s charges. Judge Sutrisna also apparently shook his head at Agus in disbelief after hearing the charges. 

Christopher’s legal advisors are now putting together an appeal against the prosecutor’s charges.

There has always been something amiss about the handling of Christopher’s case. On January 20, Christopher drove his friend’s car in Pondok Indah recklessly and crashed the car into multiple vehicles, killing four and injuring two others. The police initially said that Christopher tested positive for LSD consumption, only for that statement to be retracted several days later after another drug test cleared Christopher of drug charges. 

Another controversy arose in May when Christopher was allowed to leave prison and serve a city detention instead while his trial was ongoing. 

With the way things are going, we won’t be surprised if Christopher will only be sentenced to 1 year in prison. Maybe less.



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on