Lawyer claims MR has not received suspect determination letter in fatal santri fire case

The legal representative for MR stated that his client has not yet received a suspect determination letter from Central Lombok Police investigators in the case of a santri who died from burns, despite police claims that the letter was received by MR’s guardian. “To this day, we, MR, and MR’s parents have never received a suspect determination letter. So we want to clarify that while it has been circulating that MR is a suspect, we and the family have never received the letter designating MR as a suspect,” said MR’s lawyer, Aan Ramadhan, in Mataram on Wednesday. Aan explained that since the case was handled by the Central Lombok Police, his client has only received a Notification of Investigation Progress (SP2HP). “What was received was only the SP2HP, not a suspect determination letter. If someone has suspect status, a suspect determination letter should be delivered,” he said. Aan emphasised that his team, together with advocates from the Aan Ramadhan Law Office and the Patriot Keadilan Legal Aid Institute (LBH PADI), will approach investigators to seek certainty regarding MR’s legal status. “The most important step now is that we will meet with investigators to inquire about the progress of this case,” he stated. According to Aan, once there is certainty about MR’s suspect status, his team will examine the basis of the criminal charges applied by investigators before determining further legal steps. “What is clear is that we will take steps in accordance with legal procedures, possibly a pretrial hearing and other measures; we will see later,” he said. Meanwhile, Central Lombok Police Criminal Investigation Unit Head AKP Punguan Hutahaean stated that the suspect determination letter for MR had been delivered to MR’s guardian. “It has been received, there is documentation. The guardian received it,” he said via WhatsApp message. Previously, Central Lombok Police together with the NTB Regional Police’s Directorate of Women and Children Protection during a press conference on Thursday (9/7) named two suspects in the case: AMR (55), the head of the Islamic boarding school, and MR (15), a fellow santri and friend of the victim. Both are charged under Article 359 or Article 360 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 474 paragraphs (2) and (3) of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code, related to alleged negligence resulting in the victim’s death and serious injury, carrying a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.