Dutch police investigate RI embassy employee
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday it was looking into a Dutch press report which suggested that an employee of the Indonesian embassy in The Hague was involved in an Ecstasy syndicate.
"We're going to check the report," the ministry's director for information, Gafar Fadhyl, told Antara yesterday.
The influential Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported Monday that the Dutch police had accused a member of the Indonesian embassy's staff of being in an Ecstasy ring.
The accusation follows the recent arrest of a senior Garuda Indonesia pilot on charges of trafficking Ecstasy pills.
Mohammad Said, the pilot, was caught on Sept. 29 while reportedly trying to smuggle 8,000 pills out of the Netherlands.
The Telegraaaf, quoting a report written by the Dutch Criminal Investigation Agency (CID) chief D. van Teijlingen, said that the drug syndicate was led by a man identified as Bert. H, a resident of Bijlmeer, southeast of Amsterdam. The CID suspect "the secretary of the trade attache" at the Indonesian embassy as being the ringleader of Bert's group.
The newspaper reported that Ecstasy pills were smuggled through the embassy's diplomatic pouches, which were carried by Garuda crew members.
The Indonesian embassy in The Hague was not available for comment.
The newspaper said that the CID, after observing the suspects for almost a month, informed the police. On Sept. 29 the police arrested Said at the Amsterdam Holiday Inn Hotel. A police report said that two people using a Ford Sierra car had presumably delivered the pills to Said at the hotel. "Unlike most Garuda crew members, he (Said) always carried a lot of luggage," the report said.
Antara reported that the National Commission on Human Rights plans to send a letter to The Hague on the alleged abuse of Mohammad Said in custody.
Commission member Bambang W. Soeharto said the commission would formally lodge a protest if the reports of abuse were found to be true.
"If the pilot is later found guilty, then he is guilty. But Indonesia adheres to the principle of the presumption of innocence," Bambang said in Canberra, Australia.
The Indonesian Embassy in The Hague has formally lodged a complaint saying that the interrogation and detention procedures of the Dutch police neglected the detainee's rights.
"If reports that the pilot has been beaten up are true, then it is a clear violation of the rights of the accused. The commission will investigate it and protest because the pilot has been treated beyond the bounds of the law," Bambang said.
He asserted that in this case the commission would not interfere with the investigation of the alleged crime, only with the protection of the suspect's rights.
Based on international convention, a person accused of committing a crime has the right to be accompanied by a lawyer, while visitation rights are extended to his or her family or any relevant institution. (emb/mds)