New evidence suggests RI pimp tortured in Paris

JAKARTA (JP): The brother of an Indonesian pimp, who died in mysterious circumstances in Paris last October, presented the city police on Friday with alleged new evidence concerning the death of his sibling.

Wahid Rosidi identified his brother as Reno Saputra, 37, who was sentenced to a two-year jail term by a Parisian Court for pimping last October, and had allegedly committed suicide in a holding cell of the Paris District Court.

Before meeting with police officers, Wahid told reporters that forensic doctors at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta had found signs of torture on his brother's corpse.

"My brother was severely tortured. There is no question about this. Parisian officials sent back my brother's body on Dec. 22 last year, with so many marks on his body ... it is impossible that he was not severely tortured," Wahid told reporters at city police headquarters.

"There is a possibility that he could have been killed inside his cell. After all, the officials in Paris did not bother to provide us with autopsy reports, and had removed the parts of my brother's body that could have indicated whether my brother had, in fact, committed suicide or had been murdered."

Along with 10 Indonesian prostitutes, Reno was arrested last year in the transsexual prostitution area around the Bois de Boulogne and Porte de Clignancourt in Paris, according to an official letter from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed to Reno's family.

The signed and sealed letter, dated last Nov. 3 and signed by Hadromi Nakim of the Consular Directorate, stated that the law as it stood in Paris was not against prostitution, but came down heavily upon organized pimping.

The letter stated that the Indonesian prostitutes had been released. Reno, however, was brought to court and sentenced to a two-year jail term last Oct. 13.

On the same day, the letter said, Reno allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in his holding cell.

Second autopsy

Confirming Wahid's statements, senior forensic expert Abdul Mu'nim Idris of the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, who performed a second autopsy on Reno's corpse on Dec. 23 last year, said on Friday that Parisian forensic doctors had removed all the vital parts of Reno's body.

"The corpse was a classic example of severe torture. Reno had scores of lash marks on his back. This man had been whipped continuously, and the marks were red and stood out. They could not have been inflicted a long time ago," Mu'nim told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

"This corpse is also a clear example of a violation of human rights."

Missing from the corpse, Mu'nim said, were the entire throat and neck, the tongue, most of Reno's brain, and the anal passage.

Mun'im said that Parisian forensic doctors had stuffed the cavities with cotton.

"These parts could have told us so much, including whether he was strangled to death, whether he had hanged himself, or whether he was killed. The Parisian doctors did not even provide Reno's family with autopsy reports, which would have stated the cause of death."

"Had Reno hanged himself, the elongated marks on his neck would have told us that. Had he been strangled, the bone of the tongue would have been broken... but these significant things were thrown out."

Mun'im said that the most notable feature of Reno's corpse were the torture marks.

"Torture is the primary issue here, since it is forbidden in jail or any detention center. The missing parts have left us forensic doctors wondering whether this was a deliberate attempt to throw out incriminating evidence," he said.

"What are the Parisians trying to hide?"

Meanwhile, Indonesian Ambassador to Paris, Dadang Sukandar, told the Post that he too was shocked upon hearing the allegations of torture and the possibility of murder inside the district court holding cell.

"All I knew was that he hanged himself with a jacket... I had no idea that the autopsy reports in Indonesia came out with clear signs of torture," Dadang said by telephone from Paris.

"I will definitely check the autopsy reports in Paris." (ylt)