More setbacks in Udin murder case

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)