Gunawan shackled to bed in hospital, asks for key

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The team of lawyer's of murder suspect Gunawan Santosa asked the police on Monday to remove the shackles chaining their client's arms and legs to the bed at the Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

"Please do not ignore our client's health concerns. If Gunawan has committed any crime, prove it in court and punish him accordingly to the verdict .. don't punish him now by endangering his health," lawyer Alamsyah Hanafiah told reporters before meeting Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara.

Gunawan, who is charged with murdering his former father-in- law, Boedyharto Angsono, the director of PT Arena Sarana Bakti was reportedly shot in the midriff on March 30 after allegedly trying to escape from guards on his way from Salemba Penitentiary, Central Jakarta, to his trial at the North Jakarta District Court.

Alamsyah claimed that none of the members of his defense team has seen the nurses or doctors treating Gunawan.

"He was shackled to the bed. How can he recuperate under those conditions? He couldn't talk properly and could not comprehend what we or his mother Mulyati Susanto said to him," he added.

Lawyer Iwan Fahzizi added that the last time he visited his client was on Sunday night and Gunawan was still wearing the clothes he wore on March 31.

"Because he was shackled to the bed and no one was there to help him, he urinated and defecated on the bed, ... mixing with the blood from his wounds," Iwan said.

"We have tried to talk to the hospital director, but they said he was going out of town."

The police have not responded to the lawyers' demand.