More setbacks in Udin murder case

JAKARTA (JP): The decision of Yogyakarta authorities last weekend to cancel the long-awaited reconstruction of a journalist's murder has surprised National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo.

When journalists asked him to comment on the cancellation, he replied that he had not received any reports and would ask Yogyakarta police the same question.

"Was it because it was raining or what? I will establish contact with the Yogyakarta police chief," he said as quoted by Antara.

Reconstruction of the widely publicized August assassination of the Yogyakarta-based Bernas daily journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafrudin was scheduled for 10:30 p.m. on Friday. It was canceled one the same day in the afternoon without explanation.

A lawyer for the murder suspect, Dwi Sumaji, said the police told him and his client in the afternoon that the reconstruction was called off "for one reason or other".

They said the unexplained postponement supported their suspicion that the police are not sure if Sumaji will be able to re-enact the crime because he did not do it.

The lawyers claim that the authorities mean to cover up the case because it involves powerful figures in the bureaucracy.

Lawyers, the Indonesian Journalists Association and the National Commission on Human Rights, who have conducted their own investigations, have concluded that Syafrudin, or Udin, was murdered because of his reports on corruption with in the Bantul regency administration.

Among his famous investigative reports were an alleged misuse of funds from Jakarta earmarked for impoverished villages and an allegation that regent Col. Sri Roso Sudarmo offered a bribe to a powerful foundation in Jakarta to help him get re-elected.

However, authorities in Yogyakarta have maintained, from the outset, that Udin's murder had nothing to do with his reporting. Instead, they have suggested that Dwi Sumaji killed Udin in a jealous rage.

The police chief said he was of the opinion that the reconstruction would have to be held and should take input from the public into account.

"We will accommodate all input but only use the useful information," he said.

Meanwhile, the suspect's lawyer, Djufri Taufik from the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute, said he was notified of the cancellation at about 1:30 p.m last Friday.

"The police told me that the reconstruction was postponed indefinitely," he said.

The authorities planned the reconstruction only several days after their dossiers of Sumaji were rejected by prosecutors on the grounds that their evidence was too weak.

Separately, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Koesparmono Irsan, a former aide to the police chief, suggested that police in Yogyakarta hold a public hearing with anyone who might have clues about the mystery.

The people should include witnesses, the suspect's lawyers, Udin's wife and her lawyers, forensic experts and other neutral parties.

He also questioned the police dumping of Udin's blood sample into the sea. (pan/23)