Chief not too hasty, say police

Chief not too hasty, say police

JAKARTA: Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurfaizi yesterday
defended National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo from
accusations of undue haste in identifying Dwi Sumaji as the
killer of journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin.

"The police chief was not being too hasty. His statements were
balanced and based on scientific investigation," Nurfaizi said
yesterday according to Antara reports.

Lawyers for the defendant, Budi Santosa and Budi Hartono of
the Yogyakarta office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute said
on Saturday the police chief had been too hasty, had based his
assumptions on one source of evidence and had ignored all other
evidence.

Dibyo had earlier said that the police crime laboratory had
found evidence that Dwi had beaten the Yogyakarta-based
journalist to death in August.

"Police had studied existing evidence and cross-checked it,"
Nurfaizi said. "Investigations had been conducted in accordance
with existing law."

"We are preparing a dossier on the suspect and will submit it
soon to the prosecution. Let's just wait and see what happens in
court," he said.

Fuad, known for his critical reporting on the local
administration's policies, was beaten by unidentified persons on
Aug. 13. He died three days later without regaining
consciousness.

After weeks of slow progress, the police last month arrested
Dwi Sumaji, declaring jealousy was his motive for killing.

The late Fuad had allegedly had an affair with Dwi's wife.
Dwi's lawyers however said the arrest was made arbitrarily.

Marsiyem, Fuad's widow and the main witness, said Dwi did not
look like the attacker she saw. (swe)