Marsinah's murder case is not closed: Experts

Marsinah's murder case is not closed: Experts

By Riyadi

JAKARTA (JP): Although 10 people have already been convicted
over the highly controversial murder of labor activist Marsinah,
many legal experts say the case is by no means closed and that
the real murderers may still be at large.

The experts said the court proceedings appeared to be
defective, noting that the courts even ignored the findings of
the National Commission on Human Rights which suggested that
there are other suspects besides the ten convicts.

"It's strange, the convicts were given harsh sentences, while
at the same time there are strong indications that there are
other suspects," Marzuki Darusman of the Commission said.
"Whether they were involved in the killing or not is the courts'
decision, but the defendants are entitled to get fair trials,"
Marzuki told The Jakarta Post.

Luhut M. Pangaribuan, chairman of the Jakarta Legal Aid
Institute, said the judges should have used the Commission's fact
findings in their consideration. "Given that our judges have
monopolistic power, the least they could have done was to
consider the findings," Luhut said.

Nine civilians and an Army captain have been convicted for the
murder of 24-year old Marsinah, whose badly mutilated body was
found on May 8, 1993 in Nganjuk in East Java.

A few days earlier, the 24-year old labor activist led a
workers' strike at PT Citra Putra Surya, the watchmaking company
in Sidoarjo where she worked.

Her murder sparked national and international outcries as
human rights and labor activists used it to illustrate the
rampant violations of human rights in Indonesia to the outside
world.

Controversial

The court proceedings were just as controversial. Police were
criticized for the way they arrested the nine civilian
defendants, ignoring arrest procedures and violating the
suspects' rights. Then there were allegations that the defendants
were tortured by their investigators.

The courts handed down sentences ranging from seven months to
17 years imprisonment. The lightest was given to Mutiari, the
company's personnel officer and the only woman among the 10
convicted. The heaviest was delivered to the owner of the
company, Yudi Susanto who was convicted of plotting the killing.

Army Capt. Kusaeri, formerly chief of the Porong military in
Sidoarjo, got a nine month jail term. He was the last to be
convicted.

Legal experts who monitored the trials of the 10 people
closely said the proceedings were filled with loopholes and
irregularities to cast doubts about the court verdicts.

During the proceedings, for instance, several key witnesses
went missing mysteriously. And more recently, Captain Kusaeri
rejected the testimony by co-defendants which would have been
certain to acquit him.

"It's strange. He confessed to being guilty of the charges and
rejected all the testimony which could have benefited him. Now
that's weird, a defendant rejecting testimony which could have
set him free?" Surabaya-based lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, who
defended Yudi Susanto, said.

The military tribunal, in finding Kusaeri guilty, said he
should have detected that a murder plan was underway and reported
it to his superiors.

Duress

During the trials, all nine civilians retracted their
incriminating statements made before investigators, saying they
were made under duress.

Some said their genitals were given electric shocks or that
they were forced to drink urine. One suspect said he had his toes
placed under the leg of a chair where his investigator
subsequently sat; another said he was forced to mop the floor
with his tongue.

"Look, a businessman was asked to lick the floor. They (the
investigators) should have been tried because they had broken the
law. If we let such practices go unchallenged, they will surely
proceed with such practices," Arist Merdeka Sirait, a labor
activist said.

"Now the court has been torn to pieces because certain parties
could play with it. And I am very disappointed with our judicial
system," he continued.

The Surabaya and Sidoarjo courts which tried the Marsinah's
murder case based their decisions to convict the defendants on
their written confessions and completely ignored the oral
testimony given in court.

The allegations of torture drew the attention of the National
Commission on Human Rights which instantly formed a fact finding
team to investigate. The Commission said it found evidence of
rights violations against the defendants.

Marzuki however pointed out that the Criminal Code does not
say anything about confessions made under duress.

"Everything returns to the autonomy of the judges," Marzuki
said. "It's possible that public opinion will change, from human
right abuses in the investigating level, into unfair trial."

The nine civilians still have a chance of reprieve, if not a
the higher court hearing, the Supreme Court.

"I sincerely hope that the judges in the higher courts will
consider all the facts," Luhut said.

He noted that the Supreme Courts have recently shown
willingness to differ from the government in its rulings, most
notably its decision on the Kedungombo land dispute which
overruled the government.

The All Indonesian Workers Association (SPSI) meanwhile
declined to be drawn into the legal wrangle over the Marsinah's
murder case, saying that the main thing now is to put this in the
past, and for both employers and workers to work towards
harmonious industrial relations.

"We simply hope that there will be no repetition of the
hardships which Marsinah had to endure," said SPSI Secretary
General Bomer Pasaribu.

Marsinah was posthumously named as a workers' heroine by the
SPSI, and the day her mutilated body was found, on May 8, was
declared as Workers Solidarity Day.

Marsinah was also named as the recipient of last year's Yap
Thiam Hien Human Rights Award.