Agus Isrok trial delayed over alleged fake dossier

JAKARTA (JP): A military court suspended on Tuesday the hearing session of drug suspect Second Lt. Agus Isrok after his lawyers told the court that they suspected a ploy behind the police's investigation over the case.

Presiding judge Col. Sarman Mulyana said that he accepted the lawyer's argument, which stated that the dossier submitted by the police had been falsified, and fulfilled the lawyer's request to adjourn the hearing until the following day to let the judges resume their investigation over the suspected falsified dossier.

Initially, Tuesday's hearing was slated to include a reading of the defense statement by Agus' team of lawyers.

According to one of Agus' lawyers, Lt. Col. A. Afandi, his client never signed the dossier dated Oct. 4.

"The defendant was detained at his unit's headquarters in Cijantung, East Jakarta, on Oct. 4 last year, and never attended an investigation procedure at the West Jakarta Police station on that day," he told the hearing at a military court in the Pondok Kopi area, East Jakarta.

"Even if the police officers came to the unit's headquarters for the signing of the dossier, Agus would have reported it to his commander. The commander would then let us know of the occasion," he said.

The dossier was signed by police investigator First Lt. Asghani and Deky Setiawan, the alias of Agus.

Agus, a member of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus), and his accomplice Donny Hendrian were arrested on drug charges by the city police at a hotel in West Jakarta on Aug. 6.

In an effort to protect the names of his family and force, Agus used the name Deky Setiawan.

Lawyer Afandi urged police to investigate the dossier.

"The police involved in the arrest were Maj. Sam Budigusdian and Second. Lt. Sah Pattimura. But, suddenly, the dossier came up in the hearing, without those names having signed the dossier, but instead with the name of Asghani," he said.

Afandi therefore demanded the panel of judges resume the examination of the police's dossier.

"Since we consider there was a ploy behind the filing of the dossier, we ask the panel of judges to resume the examination into the dossier and to consider the existence of the ploy in the verdict," he said.

Prosecutor Maj. P. Simorangkir denied any ploy behind the filing of the dossier.

"There was no ploy behind the filing of the dossier to the hearing. All lawyers' objections must be lodged to the institution which issued the dossier," he said, referring to the West Jakarta Police.

The lawyers were scheduled to present the suspected falsified dossier to the hearing on Wednesday, since the document was still in the West Jakarta Prosecutor's Office. (asa)