Convicted killer wants court to review case

JAKARTA (JP): Mohammad Siradjuddin, popularly known as Pak De, who was pronounced guilty in 1986 for killing fashion model Dietje, revealed yesterday his long-time plan to ask the Supreme Court to review its ruling against him.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post at Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta, Pak De, now 66, said he hoped the massive public demand for openness and transparency would lead the Supreme Court to reverse the charges against him.

He has always maintained his innocence.

"All witnesses who made testimonies in front of the court to implicate me have already told me that they're now ready to reveal the truth.

"They admitted that they were all forced by the police (to make false testimonies at the time)," the former faith healer said.

He said he had prepared new material evidence to be brought before the Supreme Court if his request for a review of his case was granted.

According to Pak De, he was a scapegoat in the killing of the model, who had confided in him about having sexual relationships with a number of the country's top figures at the time.

He strongly believed that the shooting of Dietje was masterminded by these important people.

Therefore, he hopes the resignation of Soeharto as the country's president will give him a better chance of winning his case this time around.

"I myself confessed to killing Dietje mainly because I could no longer stand to witness my sons, Farid and Yanto, being beaten in front of me," he said.

Pak De, also called Romo or Sirad, made the headlines when police named him as suspect in the shooting of the 34-year-old model on Sept. 8, 1986.

The body of the victim, whose full name was Dietje Budiasih Budimulyono and who was one of Pak De regular patients, was found shot dead in her Honda Accord sedan on the roadside of Jl. Dupa, near where Kalibata shopping mall in South Jakarta now stands.

Pak De was arrested on Oct. 20, or 42 days after Dietje's death, following the death of Endang Sukitri, another patient of his, who died of a violent ax attack in Cimanggis, Bogor.

He was later pronounced guilty and sentenced to 12 years in jail by the Bogor District Court for executing Endang and to life imprisonment by the South Jakarta District Court for killing the model.

The two courts determined that Pak De had received a large amount of money from the two victims, saying that he could multiply the amount using his mystical powers. The courts further said that his failure to return the money had motivated him to commit the murders.

Fingerprints and projectiles found at the scene of Dietje's murder were among the evidence handed over to the South Jakarta District Court by a special team of police detectives, including then Lt. Col. Noegroho Djajoesman, now Jakarta Police chief.

But Pak De repeatedly denied all the charges.

At the time of Endang's murder, he said he was watching the World News on television at his house in Jakarta

"The police and the court did not want to listen to an eyewitness of mine," he said yesterday.

He believes businesswoman Endang was killed by her second husband, who caught her having an affair with a woman, after he borrowed some Rp 20 million in cash from her.

Pak De has repeatedly appealed to the High Court and asked for a review from the Supreme Court, but all his requests have been turned down.

In 1988, a three-member panel of the Supreme Court, including Adi Andojo Sutjipto, upheld the life sentence for Pak De on the consideration that the lower courts had correctly applied the law.

Pak De yesterday refused to reveal when he would file a request for a review to the Supreme Court, but said the same lawyers would represent him as those in 1986.

They include Luhut Pangaribuan, Mohammad Assegaf and Nursjahbani Katjasungkana, he said.

Assegaf told the Post yesterday that he had considered the case over until he was told by his client that he would ask the Supreme Court to review all charges against him.

The lawyer also believes his client was a scapegoat.

"The charges against him were not based on evidence and witnesses' testimonies," Assegaf said. (39/bsr)