Lawyer awaits Ciracas dossier

JAKARTA (JP): The defense lawyer of the main suspect in the murder of a woman and her three children in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta, said yesterday he had not yet received any dossier on the case.

"Up to the present time, I have not received any dossier because the suspect hasn't confessed to anything about his alleged involvement in the murder," O.C. Kaligis told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Kaligis is to defend Filipus Kia in court for his alleged involvement in the murder of the 31-year-old wife and three young children of school teacher Rohadi.

According to police the murder was provoked by a quarrel between Filipus and Rohadi's family over cassava plants cultivated in front of the victim's house.

Filipus, along with his son and two of his nephews, are now in police custody on charges of involvement in the case.

Filipus' wife Parmi and their other son will be called as witnesses.

By law, police are obliged to assign defense lawyers to suspects charged with committing a crime that carries death the penalty or more than 15 years imprisonment if they cannot afford to hire one.

"Since I have been retained by Filipus as his lawyer, I should be doing my job," Kaligis said.

He said that formal investigations had not yet started. The police had merely invited a psychiatrist to investigate the suspect's psychological condition.

The murder, which took place early last week, has caused public anger. Soon after the police announced the arrest over the weekend of the suspects, who are neighbors of the victims, local residents partially destroyed the Filipus' house and houses belonging to the his relatives.

"I have a problem now since the mob have unlawfully punished my client," Kaligis said. "I myself have neither received any official report on the suspects nor the testimony of the witnesses."

As stipulated by law, people should uphold the principle of presumption of innocence, he said.

Kaligis said one crime should not responded to with another crime. The partial burning down of the houses of the suspects' relatives "just does not make sense," he added. (03)