Murder suspects confessed to the crime, court told<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police told a court hearing yesterday that the
\nsuspects in the Bambu Apus murders had all confessed to the
\ncrime, including the main suspect Philipus.<\/p>\n
\"They immediately admitted to their involvement in the
\nbutchering of Rohadi's family. Philipus, however, initially only
\nadmitted to killing Mrs. Elly,\" Denan Purba, a police officer
\nsaid yesterday, referring to Rohadi's wife.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Elly and her three children were murdered on Oct. 2, 1995
\nin their home in the Bambu Apus subdistrict, east of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Beside Philipus, other suspects of the murder include Suparmi,
\nPhilipus' wife, and three minors. They have been in custody since
\nOct. 6.<\/p>\n
Further interrogations were necessary to attain clarity about
\nwhat actually happened, Denan, who acted as witness, said.<\/p>\n
\"Information given mostly differed in detail while the essence
\nof admitting to murder was there since the beginning,\" Denan
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Denan also denied Philipus' earlier claim that the police had
\ntortured him and the other suspects. His testimony was supported
\nby his superior, First Lieutenant Mahbub bin Ahmad.<\/p>\n
\"Not once did we torture nor intimidate them,\" Mahbub told the
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
The police treated the suspects well and they were attentive
\nwhen they signed and filed the police reports now used in court,
\nMahbub said.<\/p>\n
The suspects were not instructed or given plots to follow,
\nDenan added, contrary to what they told the court about the plot
\nthey were forced to admit to committing.<\/p>\n
\"How could I graph the plot when I didn't know what happened?
\nI recorded only what they said, no more and no less,\" Denan, who
\nrecorded the investigation, said.<\/p>\n
None of the lawyers present ever objected to the
\nreconstruction scenario, he added.<\/p>\n
Both Denan and Mahbub also refuted the suspects' earlier claim
\nthat there had been a crime reconstruction rehearsal prior to the
\nactual reconstruction at the crime site.<\/p>\n
\"There was no rehearsal. We only wanted to gather as much
\naccurate information as we possibly could,\" Denan said, referring
\nto the possibility that small details of the murder might have
\nbeen overlooked.<\/p>\n
When asked by the judge to comment, Philipus said that torture
\ntook place prior to interrogation.<\/p>\n
\"We were tortured in the Jakarta Police office, not at the
\nEast Jakarta police precinct where we were questioned,\" Philipus
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Both police officers told the court that Philipus was seen
\ncrying at least twice. In both instances he apologized for the
\ntroubles he had caused them, they said.<\/p>\n
\"I cried because Pak Purba was attentive enough to buy me soap
\nand slippers. At the Jakarta city police office, we were mere
\nvictims of police brutality,\" Philipus told the court.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Philipus' lawyer asked the officers about the legal
\nbasis on which the suspects had been arrested.<\/p>\n
\"The police did not implicate the suspects until October 12,
\nbut they had been detained since October 6. What was the legal
\nbasis for detaining them?\" lawyer Hoiriah asked the two officers.
\nThe question went unanswered.<\/p>\n
Court hearings were adjourned until next Monday. (14)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/murder-suspects-confessed-to-the-crime-court-told-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }