Thursday 25 November 2010

Justice in Jakarta

As a follow-up to previous posts on the subject... it looks like the Indonesian courts did not give the Indonesian Catholic Bishops' eccentric views of biology much credence. From The Jakarta Post
The South Jakarta District Court has acquitted Alterina Hofan, a man who reportedly suffers from a chromosome condition, of all charges. Alterina was accused of disguising his gender in order to marry a woman.

Alterina reportedly has Klinefelter’s syndrome, a disorder in which males have an extra X chromosome, which causes the male genitalia to develop at a later age.

“[We] state that it can be proved that defendant Alterina Hofan committed the first and second alleged deeds, but they are not a crime,” presiding judge Sudarwin said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Sudarwin said there was no question of Alterina’s status, and although Alterina did change some information on his birth and family certificates, it was not – as he was accused of – intended to pave the way for his marriage to Jane Deviyanti Hadipoespito in 2008.

Jane’s parents accused Alterina of actually being a woman and faking his gender in order to marry Jane.

Prosecutors had earlier asked for a five-year prison sentence for Alterina.
Sometimes Justice - not to say Biological Reality - prevails.

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