Evidence in Theys' murder delivered to military police
.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
Irian Jaya Provincial Police on Saturday handed over 19 pieces of evidence concerning the murder of pro-independence Papuan leader Dortheys Hiyo Eluway to the Military Police.
Three army officers are been detained as suspects in connection with the killing.
Receiving the evidence from the deputy chief of the provincial police, Brig. Gen. Raziman Tarigan, was Col. Sutarna, chief of the province's Trikora Military Command's Military Police detachment. The police handed over the evidence at the request of the Jakarta-based Military Police Corps, which is still questioning the three suspects.
The evidence was collected by the police at various places where Theys went to before his murder and included two Kijang minivans, a belt, a pair of socks, the jeans which Theys wore when he attended the celebration of National Heroes' Day at the Kopassus (Army Special Forces) barracks in the town on Nov. 10, 2001, a day before he was found dead in Koya Tengah Village on the Papua New Guinea border.
The evidence also included the findings of the autopsy on Theys, and the results of the police's questioning of a number of military and civilian witnesses.
Raziman hailed the significant progress made in the ongoing investigation of the case, saying that with the evidence the Military Police Corps would be able to pursue its investigation so as to reveal all those involved, besides the three suspects named so far.
"We hope the Military Police will be able to carry out the investigation thoroughly and bring before a military tribunal all those who were involved in the murder," he said.
The police investigation started only days after the murder but subsequently stalled as they were prevented under military law from questioning the servicemen suspected of being involved in the case.
Facing increasing pressure at home and from the international community, the central government set up a national commission of inquiry to investigate the murder, recommending that the Military Police carry out further investigation of the three suspects who are suspected of being responsible for the killing.
The three, who are being detained at Military Police Headquarters in Jakarta, are Lt. Col. Hartomo, commander of the Kopassus unit, Major Donny Hutabarat, chief of the intelligence and code unit, and Capt. Rianaldo, an officer in an operations unit.
Insp. Gen. (ret.) Koesparmono Irsan, who led the national commission of inquiry, said after meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri in Jakarta recently that three other officers who were also allegedly linked to the murder had yet to be arrested.
Theys was found dead inside his Kijang minivan on Nov. 11, 2001, in Koya Tengah a day after he attended the ceremony at the Kopassus compound in the Hamady area of the town.
Aristoteles Masoka, who drove Theys to the ceremony, is still missing.
Raziman said the local police wound continue their search for Aristoteles, the key witness in the murder case. Aristoteles went missing after he returned to the Kopassus barracks to report Theys' abduction.
Sutarno rejected the increasing calls for the three suspects' to be tried in Jayapura instead of the High Military Tribunal in the East Java capital of Surabaya, saying that this was the way it had to be based upon Indonesian Military (TNI) regulations.
"Only the low-ranking servicemen who are involved in the case will be tried by the Jayapura tribunal," he said.