Former officials claim innocence

SURABAYA: Two former officials of East Java province are denying involvement in the Marsinah murder case, saying they were victims of misleading information.

The two officials, the province's former police chief Maj. Gen. (ret.) Emon Rivai Arganata and former Brawijaya Military Commander Maj. Gen. (ret) Haris Sudarno, both denied any involvement in the 1993 murder.

"I never engineered the case," Emon told a team of the Provincial Council investigating the case.

Haris supported Emon's statement, saying the military command was just helping to investigate the murder of the wristwatch company worker in Sidoarjo, East Java.

He acknowledged that no evidence could be found to implicate the nine suspects who were investigated at the time. (nur/jun)