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)