City police awards 'Zarina Team' members
City police awards 'Zarina Team' members
JAKARTA (JP): City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata
presented yesterday honorary awards and cash to five police
detectives for their remarkable work in bringing Ecstasy-case
escapee Zarina back from the United States.
The five officers are Lt. Col. Gories Mere, who led the
mission, Lt. Col. Bakat Purwanto, Maj. Carlo Tewu, Capt. Tomy
Watulu and First Sgt. Vivi Cangkung, the only woman on the team.
Besides receiving certificates, the officers were given cash.
Mere, who is secretary of the Jakarta crime investigation
directorate, received Rp 1 million (US$432), the other three male
detectives Rp 750,000 each and Sgt. Vivi Rp 400,000.
"It's not about the amount of money but what we need to show
here is how much we appreciate the great work of our personnel in
fighting crime," Hamami said.
"The awards were to honor their efforts, which I think were a
remarkable success, in being able to arrest and bring Zarina back
home for trial," Hamami said in his speech.
The honors are also part of our efforts to realize our reward
and punishment system, he said.
The awards were presented at a routine ceremony held every
Monday at the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Jl. Gatot Subroto,
South Jakarta.
Earlier, a U.S. embassy security attache congratulated the
Jakarta detectives.
"The Indonesian police have proved their professionalism and
hard work in investigating this case across international
borders," he said after Zarina's arrival on Sunday.
Zarina, who was re-arrested in Houston on Nov. 4 after hiding
for three months since escaping from police on Aug. 8, is still
under investigation and in police custody.
"We're still discussing with interrogators every detail about
the investigation and questioning of this case," Head of the
Jakarta CID, Col. Paimin Abuamr, said last night.
Therefore, "we have made no significant progress in our
probe," he said.
Zarina's lawyer Amir Syamsuddin refused to comment on the
progress of Zarina's interrogation, now in its second day.
"I need to meet her relatives first to discuss Zarina's case,"
Amir said.
He said he would immediately assign a senior lawyer from his
law firm to assist Zarina during police questioning. (bsr)