Rape suspects wrongly released<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The nine suspects involved in the 1993 rape-
\nmurder case of female labor activist Marsinah were freed not
\nbecause they were not guilty but because the prosecution had been
\nwrong from the start, a National Police spokesman said.<\/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," Brig. Gen. Erald Dotulong told
\nreporters at the National Police headquarters.<\/p>\n
"This is basically what we came down to, following the third
\nand final stages of investigation and the exposure of this case
\ntoday (Friday) in front of National Police chief Gen.
\nRusdihardjo, chief of detectives Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and
\nother detectives."<\/p>\n
Erald said the investigation has, from the beginning, flouted
\nthe standard procedures required in Indonesian law, which has led
\nto the release of the nine suspects.<\/p>\n
"The case is open after President Abdurrahman Wahid himself
\nordered its reopening... We still need to do a lot about this
\ncase," Erald said.<\/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
Judi Susanto, director of the company and alleged mastermind
\nof the murder, was released in November 1994 after the East Java
\nHigh Court overturned his conviction. He had been sentenced to 17
\nyears, the stiffest jail term handed down in the case.<\/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 Medaeng Prison in August 1994 after
\nserving 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 East Java Police and the National Police have repeatedly
\nset up special teams to investigate the killing, but to no avail.<\/p>\n
Amid mounting calls for justice in this case, Rusdihardjo
\nfaulted the police earlier this month for not saving Marsinah,
\nwho he said was clinging to life when she was found.<\/p>\n
"Marsinah shouldn't have died... Some truck drivers saw her at
\nnight in the woods after she had been beaten up," Rusdihardjo
\nsaid the day after he was installed.<\/p>\n
"The truck drivers ran away, frightened by a ghost. One of
\nthem contacted the Madiun Police. Precinct officers came... took
\none look at her and thought she was mentally ill. They should
\nhave 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 precinct. She died there,
\nmost likely of excessive blood loss."<\/p>\n
Earlier, lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan said the police were legally
\nobliged to reopen the case.<\/p>\n
"The National Police should temporarily stop running after
\nlucrative cases, like gambling and prostitution, which only
\nprovide them with more money, and should concentrate on this
\ncase."<\/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 (Kodim), which
\nsome have speculated 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 mini van. It was a box van. There was
\nalso blood on the seats."<\/p>\n
When asked whether the then commanding officer of the Porong
\nmilitary district and the then chiefs of Madiun and Jombang
\npolice precincts to be called as witnesses in the case, Erald
\nsaid the people would just have to wait and see. (ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rape-suspects-wrongly-released-1447893297",
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