Five detained in controversial abduction case

Five detained in controversial abduction case

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Police said on Sunday they were detaining five suspects
in connection with a bizarre, grisly case of alleged abduction
and torture reported by businessman Setiadjie Munawar on April
11.

Spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said on Sunday police were
interrogating the suspects and several witnesses to obtain more
evidence so they could complete their case file for prosecutors.
Currently there were several different versions of how events had
unfolded, he said.

The five detained suspects are law firm Arsyad & Associates
managing partner Trijono Arsyad and his wife, Lisa Lukitawati; PT
Marketlinkindo Persada director Dewi Retno Ningsih; PT Buana
Samudra Jaya president director Trisna Wijaya; and a retired
soldier, Anas Azis.

PT Marketlinkindo Persada and PT Buana Samudra Jaya are both
subsidiaries of PT Mecomb Teknik, which is owned by retired two-
star Navy general Koento Wibisono, the father of Dewi Retno
Ningsih.

In his police report Setiadjie said he was kidnapped on April
1 and taken to the Cilandak Commercial Estate in South Jakarta
where he was tortured and then released a day later. Police said
Setiadjie had told them his abductors had beaten him around the
head and he had holes drilled through the palms of his hands.

Based on those charges, police arrested Trijono and Lisa on
April 12, and a few days later picked up the other suspects.

However, a representative of Lisa, Hilman K. Nurakhman, told
The Jakarta Post on Sunday that he had evidence proving that
Lisa, Trijono, and other suspects had neither abducted nor
tortured Setiadjie on April 1 and April 2.

"Setiadjie came (to Mecomb's office in the Cilandak Commercial
Estate) voluntarily to meet all of the people who wanted answers
from him after empty promises were made, and to settle disputes
with them. There were harsh words said but there were no
instances of torture. What's more, how can a hole (drilled)
through a palm be cured in a few days?" Hilman told the Post.

When Setiadjie reported the case to police on April 11, police
found only small dots on his hands, Hilman said.

Hilman said a videotape of the meeting, which had been handed
over to police, showed that there was only debate during the
meeting and Setiadjie's admission he owed money to the parties
present.

Setiadjie, Hilman said, had earlier claimed to be a director
at Medcomb Teknik. Later it turned out he had no position in the
company, and he reportedly owed Mecomb Teknik about Rp 6 billion,
Hilman said. He was also said to have debts of hundreds of
millions to several other parties.

Hilman said there was no material evidence of Setiadjie's
torture claims, which included the use of a drill and a chisel as
well as finger prints on any equipment, to prove that the torture
occurred.

"All the allegations were just made up by Setiadjie. There is
also no evidence that Lisa and Trijono paid TNI personnel (to
help them) as reported by several media outlets," he said.

Lisa's mother, Fia Saraswati Djajadiningrat, said she hoped
police would release her daughter as there was no strong evidence
showing she was involved in any criminal incident.

"At least she could be put under a house arrest as she has two
little children to take care of," she told the Post.