Policeman denies torture of suspected killers<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A policeman testifying in last year's murder
\ncase of an entertainment tycoon denied a key witness' claim that
\nhe tortured suspects to extract confessions.<\/p>\n
First Lt. Petrus Reinhart Galosse told the North Jakarta
\ndistrict court yesterday that he treated the suspects, Agiono bin
\nSafran and Suhartono (alias Atok), \"humanely\".<\/p>\n
\"It was only a routine questioning. There was no violence
\ninvolved,\" Reinhart said in a court session which attracted
\nhundreds of observers.<\/p>\n
Petrus refuted claims last week by witness Ruhut Sitompul's
\nthat he (Sitompul) saw Petrus beat the suspects until they were
\nblack and blue.<\/p>\n
Petrus was brought before the court as a witness by Prosecutor
\nJames Pardede in the murder case of Darmansyah Sujadi (alias Nyo
\nBeng Seng), once the owner of a leading recording company PT
\nIrama Tara and several night clubs in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Petrus told the court that he was one of a team of officers
\nassigned to arrest the two suspects at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on
\nNov. 24 last year, at about five p.m. He said the police had
\nreceived word of the suspects' arrival from Hong Lie, a
\nbusinessman in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Hong Lie is alleged to have hired the two suspects to murder
\nBeng Seng for failing to pay back a Rp 600 million (US$275,000)
\nloan.<\/p>\n
Petrus said the two suspects were handed over to other
\npolicemen when they arrived at the City Police Office on Jl.
\nGatot Subroto, in South Jakarta, at about seven in the evening.<\/p>\n
He told the court, chaired by Judge Soemarjono, that he
\ninterrogated Atok on Dec. 16 last year, at about 11 p.m., while
\nthe other suspect, Agiono, was interrogated in another room.<\/p>\n
\"There was no pressure used (on the suspects) at all,\" he
\nsaid, admitting though that there was no one else present in the
\ninterrogation room when he interrogated the witness.<\/p>\n
He said that his interrogation was based on the confessions
\nmade by the two suspects during questioning on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n
The witness said that the two suspects had read the dossiers
\nbefore they signed them.<\/p>\n
However, Atok claimed in yesterday's session that he was
\nbeaten black and blue, and that he could not read his dossier
\nproperly before he signed it.<\/p>\n
Atok said that it was First Lt. Suparno, not First Lt. Petrus
\nReinhart Galosse, who interrogated him.<\/p>\n
The trial of the Beng Seng case is approaching sentencing as
\neach of the suspects and key witnesses has testified. The case
\nwas adjourned until July 27, at which time prosecutors will
\npursue sentencing of the suspects.(32)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/policeman-denies-torture-of-suspected-killers-1447893297",
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