Complainant protests halt of Coke probe

Complainant protests halt of Coke probe

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police have decided to drop the investigation into
the complaint filed by Japanese Takasu Masaharu against Coca Cola
due to lack of evidence.

Masaharu, however, has opposed the decision. He sent a letter
to the National Police through his lawyer on Tuesday, asking for
legal certainty, as they had found irregularities in the
decision.

"We request the National Police to examine the officers
handling the case and proceed with the investigation," lawyer Ike
Farida told the press on Wednesday.

A lawyer of Coca Cola, Panji Prasetyo, said he did not know
about the police's decision but added that it was certainly in
his clients' favor.

"I think such a decision is natural because there are so many
things that would make the investigation impossible to proceed
with anyway," he said.

He also added that the defense team was ready to deliver their
response on Thursday to the South Jakarta District Court's
decision to proceed with the civil hearing.

Ike said Masaharu had bought a bottle of Coca Cola from
Junaedi, a bottled drink vendor in Bintaro, South Jakarta, on
Oct. 19, 2003. After drinking almost half the contents, he felt a
burning sensation in his throat and chest, followed by a queasy
feeling. Later, he found a piece of mosquito coil at the bottom
of the bottle.

Masaharu immediately went to the nearest hospital for
treatment and filed a complaint with Pesanggrahan Police, who
then kept the bottle with the remaining contents as evidence.

An analysis conducted by the National Police forensics
laboratory in February concluded that the drink contained
pesticide.

Masaharu filed a civil suit in April against PT Coca-Cola
Indonesia, PT Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia, PT Coca-Cola
Distribution Indonesia, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency and
Junaedi. He has demanded a public apology and a total of more
than US$7 million in compensation from the company for violating
the Consumer Protection Law.

The South Jakarta District Court has decided that it will
proceed with the civil hearing, while Masaharu's lawyers asked
the Jakarta Police to take over the criminal investigation from
the Pesanggrahan Police as it concerned the interests of the
wider public.

However, in a letter dated Aug. 23, the Jakarta Police decided
to return the dossiers to Pesanggrahan Police and suggested that
the investigation into the complaint be dropped.

Ike said the Pesanggrahan Police had sent a bottle, which
carries the expiry date of Dec. 11, 2004, along with the
laboratory results to the Jakarta Police. But the latter got
information from PT Coca Cola Bottling that the particular bottle
could not have been in distribution during the time of the
incident.

"It is strange that the police would simply believe the
information. We were sure the bottle was the one that our client
had drank from as stated in witness testimonies and the fact that
we also monitored its analysis at the forensics lab," Ike said.

Pesanggrahan Police later sent another bottle with an expiry
date of July 3, 2003 -- which would obviously have been past the
expiry date at the time of the incident -- to the Jakarta Police.

As the laboratory results did not clearly state which bottle's
contents it referred to, the Jakarta Police then concluded that
the evidence was obscure and that the investigation should be
terminated.