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)