Aussies accused of kidnapping released on bail

Aussies accused of kidnapping released on bail

JAKARTA (JP): The city prosecutor's office released on bail on
Friday two Australian private detectives and a German woman who
were arrested last year for allegedly abducting her children from
a house in East Jakarta.

Defense lawyer for the suspects, Gunawan Suryoputro, was
quoted by Reuter as saying yesterday that the three are now
staying at a hotel in downtown Kota.

"They are in Jakarta and their status is that of city
detainees. I have guaranteed the prosecutor's office through a
letter that the foreigners will not run away," the lawyer said.

He did not mentioned the amount of bail.

When contacted by The Jakarta Post yesterday, spokesmen of the
city prosecutor's office and police headquarters insisted that
they knew nothing about the matter.

The City Prosecutor's office spokesman Petrus Sambara
commented: "I have never heard of the case but I'll check up on
it at first chance tomorrow."

According to Petrus, his office is only allowed to release a
suspect on bail if he or she has never been in police custody
before.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. Bambang Haryoko said: "I really
have no idea about the latest on the case but by law, anybody
suspected in a case with a penalty of less than five years in
jail can be released on bail."

If found guilty, a kidnapper under such circumstances may face
a maximum prison term of seven years.

The two private detectives are Australian Michael Martino, 30,
and New Zealander Davies Maymehm, 29, from the Perth-based
Protective Services International.

The two, who were allegedly hired by the children's mother,
Birgit Dorothea Helmer, 33, tried to kidnap Yan Floyd Town, six,
and his brother Nick Floyd Town, four, at the house of a friend
of their father Malcolm John Town, 48, in East Jakarta.

The three, along with a local, were arrested by police
detectives from the City Police Headquarters later at the
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as they attempted to leave
the country with the children.

Following their arrest, the two detectives were detained at
the police headquarters while the woman was under the supervision
of counseling staff from the German embassy here.

When the kidnapping took place on Dec. 13, the boys' father
was on a business trip to the popular tourist resort of Bali.

According to Birgit, a successful private businesswoman, she
has an Australian court ruling which states that she is entitled
to raise the children.

Malcolm has said that the ruling is not valid outside
Australia as it was made after he took the children out of the
country.

The couple separated three years ago in Perth.

"Because she had a boyfriend," Malcolm claimed. "After the
separation, she lived with her boyfriend in Vancouver, Canada,
and never sent letters or Christmas cards to our two boys," he
said.

In an effort to take possession of her sons, Birgit also hired
a local ex-Air Force officer with A$2,500 to facilitate the
kidnapping.

The officer, identified as Dwi Putranto, 30, was still being
detained by city police.

"He has no lawyer to represent him," Suryoputro said. (bsr)