Position of Verbal Witnesses as Evidence in Drug Criminal Cases

Abstract

Verbal witnesses are not recognized in the General Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), but the use of verbal witnesses is indeed permitted in the context of Indonesian law, as long as it remains within the existing legal corridor. The existence of verbal witnesses in the examination process in court is not absolutely necessary, depending on how the examination process in court is going. If desired or if a defendant retracts what he stated in the BAP, then either the public prosecutor or on the initiative of the judge can submit verbal witnesses or investigator witnesses. In a court examination, the statement of the investigator's witness stated under oath can also be said to be a valid statement. The statement from this verbal witness is not only to refute the defendant's statement, but also one of the elements in which the judge forms a belief in the charges charged against the defendant. So we can often find that the statement of this verbal witness is used in the judge's decision in deciding a criminal case. However, the existence or extent of the evidentiary power of the verbal witness' statement in influencing the judge's belief does not have definite parameters .