Arrest escapee's father considers surrender plan

JAKARTA (JP): The father of Zarima, the Ecstasy suspect who escaped police last Friday, is reported to have asked his lawyer to arrange her hand over to the police.

Lawyer Amir Syamsuddin said yesterday that Zarima's father, Mirafsur, had recently asked him to help arrange the surrender of his daughter to police.

"As a close friend, I hailed his suggestion and told him that I was ready to arrange everything," Amir told The Jakarta Post.

The lawyer did not say whether Mirafsur had his daughter with him.

Zarima, 24, a novice television actress, entered the police's most wanted list after her escape on Friday. It is alleged that she escaped because of the negligence of Capt. Ade Sutiana, the head of the Tangerang police detectives, who was escorting her and 29,677 Ecstasy pills from the Tangerang police station to the Jakarta Police headquarters.

According to Amir, Mirafsur had asked him whether the police would batter his daughter if she turned herself in.

"I told him, I guaranteed his daughter would be safe," the lawyer said.

When asked to comment on Mirafsur's move, City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said: "We strongly welcome it if he really wants to hand over the suspect."

On the man's concerns on his daughter's safety in police custody, Iman stressed that no police were allowed to beat suspects as stated in existing law.

A senior police detective said that Mirafsur's request to Amir indicated that Zarima was being hidden by her relatives.

"At least, her relatives know where the female fugitive is," said the detective, who refused to be named.

Zarima was arrested last Wednesday in possession of 29,677 pills worth over Rp 1.78 billion (US$757,700) at her home in the Taman Alfa Indah housing complex in Joglo, West Jakarta.

The next day Zarima was to be escorted to the police headquarters. Zarima asked the police officer, Ade, who led the escort to let her take a bath at her mother's home at Taman Alfa Indah.

While Ade was talking with her mother in the living room, Zarima escaped through a second-floor window.

A few hours later, Ade was detained by the Jakarta Police Internal Affairs division. He was then dismissed from his post.

Police interrogators, however, are still tightlipped on where Ade, the suspect and the police driver went after leaving the Tangerang police headquarters at 6 p.m. last Thursday.

They arrived at Zarima's mother's house at 2 a.m. on Friday, which is less than an hour's drive from the police station.

Zarima's mother, Mardiyah, and sister Zamila, 22, have been questioned since her escape and have directed the police to places where she could possible hide.

"If the suspect is nabbed later, her mother and sister will be questioned again on whether they played a role in the escape of Zarima," police spokesman Iman said.

National Police Deputy Chief for Operational Affairs, Maj. Gen. MB Hutagalung, said yesterday that investigators have been assigned to discover possible motives behind Zarima's escape, which is a heavy blow to police integrity.

"In-depth interrogation on the case is ongoing to see if it is possible that her escape was arranged by a powerful syndicate," Hutagalung said with no further explanation.

The two-star general said the Indonesian police had informed all Interpol branches worldwide to help locate the fugitive. (bsr)