Main witness absent at murder reconstruction
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Marsiyem, wife of slain journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin and the main witness in the investigation into his murder, was too ill to attend yesterday a police reconstruction of the murder.
Her lawyer Budi Hartono of the Yogyakarta legal aid office was quoted by Antara as saying that Marsiyem was suffering from depression and that psychiatrist R. Soemardi Prawirodi, who examined her Sunday, had ordered her to hospital for a week for treatment.
"She must rest and not see visitors for some time so she can recover, both physically and psychologically," Budi quoted the doctor as saying.
Budi said her absence from the reconstruction rendered the procedure legally defective. He spoke to the press before the reconstruction took place.
Marsiyem opened the door of her house to a man asking for her husband, better known as Udin, on Aug. 13 at 10.30 p.m. After letting him in she went to the back of the house only to hear Udin scream for help minutes later.
The journalist, known for his critical reporting on the Yogyakarta and Bantul regency administration policies, died three days later without regaining consciousness. The murder has had wide media coverage because of a number of reported oddities in the police investigation procedure.
Budi, and Marsiyem's other lawyers, attended the reconstruction because Sujarah, also a legal aid office client and one of the witnesses, took part in the procedure.
D.S., the suspected killer whose arrest has attracted harsh criticism from the public because of reported violations in the procedure, was accompanied to the reconstruction by his lawyer Eko Widianto.
Police first held a reconstruction on Nov. 16, without Marsiyem or D.S. Following public outcry the police planned yet another reconstruction, for Nov. 29, but called it off without explanation.
Yogyakarta police carried out the reconstruction because their dossier on the suspected killer was rejected for being incomplete by the provincial prosecutors office. (23/swe)