Marsinah case closure questioned

Marsinah case closure questioned

JAKARTA (JP): Two lawyers questioned yesterday the police's
decision to temporarily close their investigation into the 1993
murder of labor activist Marsinah.

Trimoelja D. Soerjadi said the decision by police, after they
failed to take a DNA test of a blood sample, showed a lack of
transparency and could sow suspicion.

The explanation was not satisfactory, Trimoelja said.

"Police have a moral obligation to explain more," he added.

Apong Herlina said transparency was needed in any police
investigation. "If not, their credibility becomes questionable,"
she said.

National Police Chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo said Monday his office
had temporarily closed the investigation due to a lack of
evidence after a DNA test in Britain failed because the blood
sample had been contaminated.

The test was the last and probably only lead the police had to
sustain their investigation into the murder which had stirred
public outcry at home and abroad.

The Supreme Court in 1994 acquitted nine people whom the
Surabaya District Court had convicted for the murder, ruling that
the trials were inconclusive and that much of the evidence was
extracted from the suspects by force.

Trimoelja defended some of the suspects.

Marsinah was murdered after leading protests at PT Catur Putra
Surya, a watch manufacturer in Sidoarjo, East Java. Her badly
mutilated body was found on May 9, 1993, in an abandoned shack
near Nganjuk in East Java.

Apong, chairperson of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, said
the police could not simply close down the investigation because
the DNA test was not the only evidence.

"They seem to have become too dependent on such sophisticated
technology," she said. (05)