Forensic doctor denies violating code of ethics

Forensic doctor denies violating code of ethics

JAKARTA (JP): Senior forensic expert Dr. Abdul Mun'im Idries
has insisted that he humiliated nobody and violated no
professional codes with his recent statement in relation to the
murder of high school student Marthadinata, alias Ita.

He, instead, planned to sue those, including Volunteers for
Humanity leader Sandyawan Sumardi and lawyer Munir, who had
publicly slandered his name by accusing him of unprofessionalism
and having violated the existing professional codes of ethic.

According to Mun'im, of the state Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital, revealing postmortem examination results violated no
rules.

"A postmortem examination result is not confidential data like
those of a patient. A forensic doctor is also different from an
ordinary medical doctor," Mun'im told The Jakarta Post in an
interview on Sunday.

A forensic expert, he explained, could publicly reveal the
results of an examination as there were parts of the available
evidence that could help police to further investigate the case.

"It's common and nothing should be hidden, especially when the
police asked me to disclose it, I had to reveal it to help them
do their work," Mun'im said.

According to Mun'im, those who have accused him of humiliating
the 18-year-old victim were totally wrong and their public
remarks were made on baseless grounds.

Last Thursday, Sandyawan and Munir accused the police of
violating professional ethics in its handling of the murder,
saying that the police's public analysis -- through Munir and
psychology professor Sarlito Wirawan, who also cited the results
-- on the victim's background amounted to open terror tactics.

"This pattern is often used by the police to (steer the public
to) conclude that the victim is an easy target of assaults,"
charged Munir, who is also coordinator of the Commission for
Missing Persons and Victims of Violence.

They also wanted the Indonesian Psychologists Association and
the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) to question Mun'im and
Sarlito for violating organizational and professional ethics.

But Mun'im questioned on Sunday why Sandyawan and Munir became
angry with the announcement of the results of Ita's postmortem
examination while the victim's parents and relatives did not
complain at all.

Ita, who was found dead on Oct. 9 in her house on Jl. Berlian,
Central Jakarta with severe stab wounds in her neck, abdomen and
hands, was said by Mun'im to have, among other things, signs of
acts of sodomy.

The forensic expert also said that Ita's hymen had disappeared
quite a long time ago.

"I was also not the first person who stated that Ita was
sodomized," Mun'im said.

He said that a few hours after Ita's death, he received a
message through his beeper from the Kalyanamitra women's
organization that read Ita was "killed and sodomized".

But Mun'im said he could understand why Sandyawan made such a
groundless accusation.

A priest like him does not, of course, understand the law and
forensic work, he said.

"But I am sorry that the allegations also come from Munir, a
lawyer, who is supposed to know about the law and my job," he
said.

He said he could sue Munir for humiliating him.

"I will report it to the police soon. I also have many lawyers
who are ready to defend me," Mun'im said.

Mun'im said that he was ready to be questioned by anybody,
including the IDI, in which he was head of the association's
Council for Defending Members. (jun)