New DNA evidence re-opens Marsinah rape-murder case<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An Australian-based laboratory has jump-started
\nthe 1993 rape-murder case of female labor activist Marsinah as it
\nhad found out that the DNA in the blood found at the residence of
\na former primary defendant in the case matched that of the
\nactivist's.<\/p>\n
\"The DNA in the blood is identical to the DNA extracted from
\nthe late Marsinah. That in itself, reopens the case in full
\nforce,\" National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf told
\nreporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Saleh declined to mention the name of the laboratory, saying
\nthat it would be made public should the case reach the courts.<\/p>\n
\"The laboratory results came in December last year.
\nAccordingly, the police will take the necessary steps, which will
\nmost likely include the questioning of the former primary
\nsuspect,\" Saleh said.<\/p>\n
Saleh was referring to Judi Susanto, director of an East Java-
\nbased watch-making factory and the alleged mastermind of the
\nmurder.<\/p>\n
Judi was released in November 1994 after the East Java High
\nCourt overturned his conviction. He had been sentenced to 17
\nyears, the stiffest jail term handed down in the case.<\/p>\n
Marsinah was murdered after leading a strike at PT Catur Putra
\nSurya, a watch-making factory in Sidoarjo, East Java. Her badly
\nmutilated body was found on May 9, 1993, in an abandoned shack
\nnear Nganjuk, East Java.<\/p>\n
A secretary at the company, Mutiari, who was sentenced to
\nseven months in prison by Sidoarjo District Court for allegedly
\nbeing an accessory to the murder, was also exonerated by the
\ncourt. She was released from the Medaeng Prison in August 1994
\nafter serving six months.<\/p>\n
The other seven defendants, who were released by a Supreme
\nCourt ruling in May 1995, were also employees of the company:
\nYudi Astono (sentenced to four years in jail prior to being
\nexonerated), Bambang Wuryantoyo (12 years), Widayat (12 years),
\nA.S. Prayogi (12 years), Karyono Wongso (13 years), Soewono (12
\nyears) and Soeprapto (12 years).<\/p>\n
The nine suspects were freed not because they were innocent,
\nbut because the prosecution had been wrong from the beginning,
\nthen National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Erald Dotulong had
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"The investigation of the entire case was never held inside a
\npolice station, and the case was always handled under the threat
\nof violence from a certain party,\" Erald said earlier.<\/p>\n
Erald said the investigation has, from the beginning, flouted
\nthe standard procedures required by Indonesian law, leading to
\nthe release of the nine suspects.<\/p>\n
The East Java Police and the National Police have repeatedly
\nset up special teams to investigate the killing, but to no avail.<\/p>\n
Former National Police Chief Gen. Rusdihardjo also faulted the
\npolice early last year for not saving Marsinah, who he said was
\nclinging to life when she was found.<\/p>\n
\"Marsinah shouldn't have died ... Some truck drivers saw her
\nat night in the woods after she had been beaten,\" Rusdihardjo
\nsaid in early January, last year.<\/p>\n
\"The truck drivers ran away, frightened by a 'ghost'. One
\nofficer contacted the Madiun Police. Precinct officers came ...
\ntook one look at her and thought she was mentally ill. They
\nshould have helped her. She was still alive.\"<\/p>\n
\"They threw her in the back of a Kijang van, driving her
\nthrough remote areas to the Jombang police precinct. She died
\nthere, most likely of excessive blood loss.\"<\/p>\n
Rusdihardjo earlier acknowledged that he was one of the
\ninvestigating officers in the Marsinah case. He personally
\nchecked on the Porong Military District Command, which some have
\nspeculated was the site of Marsinah's rape and murder.<\/p>\n
\"There was too much blood everywhere. We were shocked. There
\nwas also an operational minivan. It was a box van. There was also
\nblood on the seats.\"<\/p>\n
East Java Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sudi Silalahi earlier
\naffirmed that the military would not protect any of its members
\nwho were involved in the brutal 1993 murder.<\/p>\n
\"If we discover any military officers were involved in the
\nmurder, we'll summon and question them. We will not obstruct the
\ninvestigation,\" Sudi had said. (ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-dna-evidence-re-opens-marsinah-rape-murder-case-1447893297",
"image": ""
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