Bakin witness doubts Haryogi's gun permits
JAKARTA (JP): An employee of the State Intelligence Coordinating Body (Bakin) testified on Wednesday that he doubted the authenticity of two gun permits owned by Haryogi M. Maulani, a defendant in an alleged illegal arms possession case.
The permits were allegedly issued by Bakin for Haryogi, the son of former Bakin chief Lt. Gen. (ret) Zaini Azhar Maulani, to use an AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova) rifle and a Walther handgun.
"I seriously doubt the authenticity of the two permits. I know Bakin permits, letters and documents. These (two permits) don't look like them," subdivision chief of the Bakin general secretariat, Anwar M. Nur, told the West Jakarta District Court.
"All Bakin permits and letters have to go through and come out of my subdivision. I doubt these permits are products of Bakin," he said in a hearing presided over by judge Sri Handojo.
Anwar was referring to SPRIN 171/XI/1999, dated 26 November 1999, allegedly issued by Bakin for the use of the AK-47, and SPRIN 172/XI/1999 dated 26 November 1999, allegedly issued by Bakin for the use of the Walther Colt gun.
Both permits were allegedly signed by Brig. Gen. Soetopo, Deputy IV of Bakin, one of the three witnesses who testified before the court on Wednesday.
Soetopo testified at the court that he had never seen the two permits, nor signed them.
On Feb. 16 this year, Tamansari Police officers confiscated two weapons from the suspect, in the compound of a West Jakarta hotel.
One was an AK-47 weapon, serial number 4857, which had neither the bullets nor the magazine. Another was a Walther, number 271759, with bullets and the magazine.
Anwar said there were several things wrong with the concerning permits.
"The letterhead words on top of the permit, Badan Koordinasi Intelijen Negara, are underlined. The same words on these permits are not. The permit numbers 171 and 172 should have been handwritten, and not typed. This has been typed out using a computer," Anwar told the court.
"The specifications of the weapon, such as the type, the weapon itself and the brand, should have been typed out with a manual typewriter, which are used by my subdivision. This has been typed out using an IBM computer."
Anwar added that it was written on both permits that copies of the permits would go to all 46 bureau chiefs in Bakin, when there were only 45.
"I took the liberty of checking out the SPRIN numbers 171 and 172. They are letters, not permits," he said.
Letter number 171, Anwar said, was dated March 1, 1999, and was about the posting of a man identified as Suyoto. Letter number 172, also dated March 1, 1999, was in relation to the posting of a man identified as S. Budiardjo.
Both letters had nothing to do with gun use, Anwar said.
"The two permits in question, those numbered 171 and 172, each dated 26 November 1999, do not seem right to me, because since the beginning of November 1999, Bakin changed all the numbers of letters, documents and permits, to thousands," he said.
"For instance, 1701 or 1702... no longer 170 or 171. This was done to anticipate the year 2000."
He added that there was also something wrong with the stamp marks on the concerning permits, namely that the "circles were not exactly circular, and the shape of the Garuda bird, was not neat on each stamp mark."
Earlier, Soetopo told the court that he had issued only one permit for gun use to Haryogi, which was SPRIN 170/XI/1998, dated Nov. 26, 1998.
"The permit was issued for the use of a Baretta with a .22 millimeter caliber. It expired on Dec. 31, 1999, and was never extended. I signed the permit on the orders of the then Bakin chief Zaini Azhar Maulani," he said.
"It was issued because Haryogi had been made a special informant working for Bakin, to expose a fake money syndicate."
Before being questioned by the court, presiding judge Sri Handojo showed Soetopo the permits 171 and 172, dated 26 November 1999, and Soetopo firmly said that the signatures on those permits, were not his.
"They may look like my signature, but they are not mine," he said. (ylt)