Inmates allegedly helped Gunawan plan to escape

Inmates allegedly helped Gunawan plan to escape

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Two inmates at Salemba Penitentiary and an ex-convict allegedly
helped defendant Gunawan Santosa in his foiled escape attempt on
Tuesday on his way from the prison to the North Jakarta District
Court.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara said on
Friday that Gunawan arranged the escape plan with the help of Y,
an inmate serving a sentence for theft with violence and
embezzlement who was also supposed to escape with Gunawan from
the Salemba.

They both received help from M, an inmate serving time for
theft, and an ex-convict Y who prepared facilities to be used
after Gunawan and inmate Y managed to escape.

"Based on our investigation, there is a strong indication that
the pistol (the .32 caliber Beretta) carried by Gunawan came from
the penitentiary. A witness said that he had seen the pistol in
Salemba before Gunawan took it with him inside the paddy wagon,"
he said.

Makbul declined to go into details, saying that not all facts
from the ongoing investigation were for public consumption.

He refused to comment on the progress of the questioning of
three North Jakarta Prosecutor's Office personnel -- Dadang,
Padmawinata and Sukrisman -- who have been named suspects in the
case. The three were named suspects for deliberately not
handcuffing Gunawan or searching him before getting into the
vehicle.

Instead, Makbul only commented that if a criminal escaped from
a police detention center, he would immediately investigate his
subordinates instead of blaming other institutions.

Shortly after Gunawan attempted to escape from the paddy wagon
carrying him to the court on Tuesday, Attorney General's Office
spokesman Kiemas Yahya held a press conference to announce that
the prosecutor's office had indeed requested the North Jakarta
Police to escort Gunawan. However, no police officers were
present to guard the defendant inside the paddy wagon. There were
only the three personnel of the prosecutor's office including the
driver.

The North Jakarta Police later admitted that they received a
written request but it came too late, four hours after the foiled
escape attempt.

Gunawan was scheduled to stand trial for premeditated murder
of his ex-wife's father Boedyharto Angsono, president director of
PT Aneka Sarana Bakti (Asaba), and his off-duty Special Armed
Forces (Kopassus) bodyguard when the incident occurred.

Police claimed that Gunawan pointed a gun at the guard and
ordered him to uncuff him before the two were involved in a fight
in which the gun went off, hitting him in the midriff.

But eyewitnesses said that Gunawan fell from the vehicle, hit
his head on the asphalt and fell unconscious. They claimed they
did not see blood stains on Gunawan's shirt and his hands were
not handcuffed when he was taken unconscious to a nearby clinic.

As of Friday, Gunawan was still being treated at Soekanto
Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta. He underwent
surgery on Wednesday to remove a bullet from his midriff. Police
confirmed that the bullet came from a .32 caliber Beretta.