Justice minister condemns arrest of prosecutors
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman yesterday criticized the way police arrested and questioned employees of the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutor's Office for their alleged involvement in manipulating witnesses' testimonies.
He said the police's action -- which had neglected an interinstitutional understanding -- would set a bad precedent for the prosecution of legal officials in the future.
"(Police investigators) will be able, at any time, to detain judges in the same way they have detained the officials of the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutors' Office," Oetojo said after the opening of a leadership meeting for Golkar's labor wing (SOKSI).
The minister said that police could have arrested and questioned the officials in a better way.
"They should have followed the procedures," he said, but did not elaborate further or detail the rules that the police detectives may have violated.
A legal professor of Semarang-based Diponegoro University, Soehardjo S.S., shared Oetojo's opinion.
"The police should have complied with the norms and ethics in arresting and questioning the prosecutors, who are also legal officials."
Soehardjo said the police had acted with haste when they arrested and questioned the suspects, and did not talk with the officials' superiors prior to the action.
The rector of Diponegoro University, Muladi, said that the case reflected the existing disharmony between police and the prosecutors' office.
"The National Police chief and attorney general should sit down together at the same table and openly discuss the case and look for a solution."
National Police chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo said Thursday that police had lawfully arrested and questioned: Andhi Nirwanto, now head of the sex-related crimes unit at North Jakarta Prosecutor's Office; J. Kamaru, an assistant to the Deputy Attorney General for intelligence affairs; and members of staff from North Jakarta Prosecutor's Office -- Johny Siahaan and Afrizal.
The move was reported to their respective superiors afterward, he said.
On Monday, Deputy Attorney General Sudjono C. Atmonegoro also criticized the police for failing to seek permission from his office before the arrests.
The Attorney General's Office said the officials were summoned by police detectives on Thursday and Friday last week for their alleged roles in falsifying the testimony of witnesses in order to frame someone for the April 1994 killing of businessman Nyo Beng Seng.
Fifty-seven-year-old Beng Seng, alias Darmansyah Suyadi, one of the city's "big bosses" of gambling dens and nightspots, died after being stabbed 12 times on the night of April 15, 1994.
The victim's rival, Eng San, and three other suspects were found guilty of murder by North Jakarta District Court. But Eng San was later acquitted by Jakarta High Court.
Police recently decided to reopen their investigation upon receiving a report from Eng San, dated Dec. 4, which accused the officials of preparing false testimony.
The report stated that another witness, Kikie Ariyanto, who is still at large, is one of the key witnesses in the case who identified Eng San as the mastermind behind the killing.
Police have since released two of the officials, but Kamaru and Afrizal are expected to be charged under Article 242 of the Criminal Code for encouraging another person to make false statements in court. The violation carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.
Kamaru and Afrizal were released on bail Thursday evening following requests from their relatives.
Deputy Attorney General for general crime, I Made Gelgel, denied yesterday reports which suggested Eng San had never made such a report.
"It was made clear (in the police's arrest warrant) that the arrest was based on Eng San's report."
Gelgel said that the report contained sufficient evidence to carry out the arrests.
He confirmed that the overseas travel ban on Eng San, which will end Monday, has been extended by the ministry of justice for another year. (10/imn/har)