New DNA evidence re-opens Marsinah rape-murder case

New DNA evidence re-opens Marsinah rape-murder case

JAKARTA (JP): An Australian-based laboratory has jump-started
the 1993 rape-murder case of female labor activist Marsinah as it
had found out that the DNA in the blood found at the residence of
a former primary defendant in the case matched that of the
activist's.

"The DNA in the blood is identical to the DNA extracted from
the late Marsinah. That in itself, reopens the case in full
force," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf told
reporters on Wednesday.

Saleh declined to mention the name of the laboratory, saying
that it would be made public should the case reach the courts.

"The laboratory results came in December last year.
Accordingly, the police will take the necessary steps, which will
most likely include the questioning of the former primary
suspect," Saleh said.

Saleh was referring to Judi Susanto, director of an East Java-
based watch-making factory and the alleged mastermind of the
murder.

Judi was released in November 1994 after the East Java High
Court overturned his conviction. He had been sentenced to 17
years, the stiffest jail term handed down in the case.

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

A secretary at the company, Mutiari, who was sentenced to
seven months in prison by Sidoarjo District Court for allegedly
being an accessory to the murder, was also exonerated by the
court. She was released from the Medaeng Prison in August 1994
after serving six months.

The other seven defendants, who were released by a Supreme
Court ruling in May 1995, were also employees of the company:
Yudi Astono (sentenced to four years in jail prior to being
exonerated), Bambang Wuryantoyo (12 years), Widayat (12 years),
A.S. Prayogi (12 years), Karyono Wongso (13 years), Soewono (12
years) and Soeprapto (12 years).

The nine suspects were freed not because they were innocent,
but because the prosecution had been wrong from the beginning,
then National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Erald Dotulong had
said.

"The investigation of the entire case was never held inside a
police station, and the case was always handled under the threat
of violence from a certain party," Erald said earlier.

Erald said the investigation has, from the beginning, flouted
the standard procedures required by Indonesian law, leading to
the release of the nine suspects.

The East Java Police and the National Police have repeatedly
set up special teams to investigate the killing, but to no avail.

Former National Police Chief Gen. Rusdihardjo also faulted the
police early last year for not saving Marsinah, who he said was
clinging to life when she was found.

"Marsinah shouldn't have died ... Some truck drivers saw her
at night in the woods after she had been beaten," Rusdihardjo
said in early January, last year.

"The truck drivers ran away, frightened by a 'ghost'. One
officer contacted the Madiun Police. Precinct officers came ...
took one look at her and thought she was mentally ill. They
should have helped her. She was still alive."

"They threw her in the back of a Kijang van, driving her
through remote areas to the Jombang police precinct. She died
there, most likely of excessive blood loss."

Rusdihardjo earlier acknowledged that he was one of the
investigating officers in the Marsinah case. He personally
checked on the Porong Military District Command, which some have
speculated was the site of Marsinah's rape and murder.

"There was too much blood everywhere. We were shocked. There
was also an operational minivan. It was a box van. There was also
blood on the seats."

East Java Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sudi Silalahi earlier
affirmed that the military would not protect any of its members
who were involved in the brutal 1993 murder.

"If we discover any military officers were involved in the
murder, we'll summon and question them. We will not obstruct the
investigation," Sudi had said. (ylt)