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)