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.