Authorities probe prosecutor's death

Authorities probe prosecutor's death

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

In its investigation of the suspicious death of prosecutor Umbu
Lage Lozara, a team of doctors exhumed on Thursday his body so
they could do a belated autopsy; three weeks after the tough-on-
graft prosecutor was found dead.

After a preliminary investigation, the doctors stated that "no
traces of violence were found on Umbu's body, however, we are
waiting for a complete autopsy to reveal whether or not he was
murdered," said Gatot Suharto who led the team of doctors.

The body of Umbu, the former deputy chief of the Southeast
Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office, was buried in Kalongan subdistrict
in Semarang regency -- his wife's hometown.

He was laid to rest on Aug. 6, two days after he was found
dead in his hotel room while on assignment to probe a high-
profile graft case in Muna regency, Southeast Sulawesi.

The chief of the provincial prosecutor's office, I Wayan Pasek
Suartha, who witnessed the exhumation on Thursday, reiterated
that Umbu died while investigating a number of corruption cases
in the province. In addition to the graft case in Muna, Umbu was
also looking into over 20 other corruption cases. Due to the
sensitive nature of his graft investigations, there has been
speculation that Umbu may have been murdered by those who were
involved in the cases.

"There were many officials and building contractors allegedly
involved in those corruption cases. Umbu was a tough prosecutor
and we were proud of what he was doing," asserted Pasek.

His colleagues and friends also believe his death was
suspicious. Umbu's friends in the alumni association of Satya
Wacana Christian University (USKW) found his death suspicious
after they had inspected Umbu's body, shortly before he was
buried.

When they saw the body, they were surprised because his tongue
was sticking out of his mouth, and lacerations were found on his
face, neck and hands.

However, Gatot said that it was too early to say that Umbu had
been murdered. "The tongue sticking out is probably because the
body was not preserved well. We found too much preservation
substance (formalin) in his stomach," said Gatot.

The team of forensic doctors extracted on Thursday most of his
vital organs and took them to a forensic laboratory at Diponegoro
University in Semarang for tests. The results would be made
public within 10 days, Gatot added.

Separately in Jakarta, the spokesman for the Attorney
General's Office (AGO), Soehandojo, denied speculation that the
AGO had established a team of prosecutors to probe the death of
Umbu.

"The police investigators are the ones authorized to probe the
case, not us," said Soehandojo, as quoted by the state news
agency Antara.