Meirizka Widjaja Wants to Pray for the Judges Who Tried the Ronald Tannur Case

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Meirizka Widjaja, the mother of Ronald Tannur, frequently answered that she did not know or did not remember when asked about conversations through the Whatsapp application between her and Lisa Rachmat. When confirmed about her inquiry regarding the names of the judges handling Ronald Tannur's case at the Surabaya District Court, Meirizka reasoned that she wanted to pray for them.

In the continued trial of the alleged bribery case involving Ronald Tannur with defendants Erintuah Damanik, Mangapul, and Heru Hanindyo, Meirizka Widjaja claimed to not know and to have forgotten. The trial was held at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (18/2/2025) and was presided over by Chief Judge Teguh Santoso.

In the hearing, Meirizka was extensively questioned and confirmed regarding her conversation with Lisa Rachmat. Lisa is the legal advisor of Ronald Tannur, who at that time was a suspect in the assault case that resulted in the death of his girlfriend, Dini Sera Afrianti, in mid-2023.

Meirizka admitted that her communication with Lisa was mostly through phone calls or the Whatsapp application, and they rarely met in person. According to her, Lisa once requested a service fee of Rp 1.5 billion. When the prosecutor inquired about operational costs, Meirizka claimed she did not know.

When the prosecutor showed several conversations on the WhatsApp application regarding operational costs, Meirizka admitted that she did not know.

"The bottom chat?" the prosecutor asked while showing the image of the conversation through the projector.

"I don't understand," answered Meirizka.

"Didn't you ask Mrs. Lisa?" asked the prosecutor.

"Never," he replied.

Meirizka also mentioned that there was no conversation from Lisa regarding a request for money other than the service fee of Rp 1.5 billion. However, when shown conversations from Lisa mentioning several amounts, such as Rp 200 million, Rp 300 million, Meirizka confirmed.

According to Meirizka, there were several amounts of money that Lisa had mentioned to her. However, Meirizka admitted that she did not ask Lisa the purpose of the money request and only read the message. She also stated that the requested money was never fulfilled.

When the prosecutor presented a conversation showing Meirizka asking Lisa about the name of the judge handling Ronald Tannur's assault case, only then did Meirizka confirm. According to Meirizka, she asked about it to pray for the judges.

"I usually like to pray the Rosary and the Novena. That's why I asked for the judge's name so I can pray for him," he said.

Meirizka confirmed that Lisa had contacted her regarding the selection of a judge who would handle Ronald's case. According to Meirizka, Lisa only said she would look for the judge. Lisa also admitted the date of the start of the trial for her son.

Meirizka also admitted that she did not know there was a conversation where Lisa told Meirizka that Ronald would be released. When the prosecutor showed evidence of the conversation, Meirizka admitted that she had forgotten.

"Do you understand this chat?" asked the prosecutor.

"I don't understand. If Lisa chats, I just say yes. I don't understand the law," answered Meirizka.

Asked about the prosecutor's appeal after Ronald's acquittal, Meirizka admitted to knowing about it from Lisa. However, Mairizka said she did not know about any efforts made by Lisa in the appeal process. Meirizka also admitted to not knowing about it.

In the trial, Meirizka admitted that she had never visited Ronald Tannur when Ronald was undergoing the investigation process until the trial in court. In a conversation shown by the prosecutor, Meirizka even admitted that she was very stressed.

The prosecutor also asked Meirizka, the reason for never attending her son's trial. "Because to avoid reporters. Because they, right, make unclear news, nonsense," she said.

Regarding Lisa's statement, Erintuah, Mangapul, and Heru admitted that they had no objections at all. They considered Lisa's statement to be all true.

In the trial, defendants Erintuah and Mangapul submitted a letter of application to become cooperating witnesses. According to the attorney for both defendants, Philipus Sitepu, the application was made because his two clients were claimed from the beginning to have become cooperating witnesses.

According to Philipus, both of his clients are said to have accepted and admitted to the existence of a crime in the case. In addition, both have also handed over money that is said to be related to the case to the prosecutor. The total money handed over by both of them is 115,000 Singapore dollars.

When asked about whether there are still other parties involved in the case but have not been processed legally, Philipus admitted that he did not know. "But, our client's statement has revealed all who are the perpetrators in this case," he said.