Case against kidnappers likely to be dismissed
Case against kidnappers likely to be dismissed
JAKARTA (JP): The case of two foreign private detectives accused of kidnapping two children from their father's custody may be thrown out of court, says a prosecutor.
"The children's father -- the victim in this case -- is no longer in Indonesia and has left the country for Vietnam. His presence in court is necessary for the trial to proceed," a prosecutor, who asked not to be named, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
Moreover, he said, the mother of the two boys -- Birgit Dorothea Helmer, 33 -- who hired the two detectives, has legal custody of the children. Mrs. Helmer was given custody by a court in her former homeland in Perth, Australia, and thus was legally able to take back Yan Floyd Town, six, and his brother Nick Floyd Town, four, from her ex-partner.
"By law, the absence of a victim (or any relatives) is automatically grounds for revoking a case, meaning that all suspects can be released," the prosecutor said.
The officer said that he has no information on the whereabouts of the children's father -- Malcolm John Town, 48 -- or the two boys.
Several days after the kidnapping, Malcolm told the Post that he faced problems processing the extension of his visa.
The prosecutor also denied reports from Reuters that his office has released the two private detectives and Birgit on bail.
"We never detained the detectives so how could we release them?" he asked.
The two private detectives are Australian Michael Martino, 30, and New Zealander Davies Maymehm, 29, from the Perth-based Protective Services International.
The two, along with a local resident, were allegedly hired by Birgit to kidnap the two boys at the house of a friend of the children's father in East Jakarta last year.
The two detectives told the prosecutor that before the kidnapping they informed a local police officer that Birgit has the rights to take care of the children.
"The detectives believed that by contacting the local police officers they had followed local procedures," the prosecutor said.
The detectives, Birgit and the local man were later arrested by officers from the City Police Headquarters at the Soekarno- Hatta International airport as they were leaving the country with the children.
As of yesterday evening, there was still no confirmation of whether the three were still being detained or if they had already left the country. (bsr)