New suspects in Udin killing
New suspects in Udin killing
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights claims
to know of other likely suspects of the August killing of
journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, Antara reported.
Commission secretary general Baharuddin Lopa said in Salatiga,
Central Java, yesterday the rights body was investigating
"alternative suspects" to Dwi Sumaji, currently detained by
police, but wouldn't do too much for fear of interfering with
official investigations.
"We're still examining alternative names that turned up in our
investigations, but we must not interfere with the official
investigation because the rights commission is not a 'super
body'," he said.
The commission could be considered a "super body" if it
consistently antagonized or corrected other agencies' reports or
statements. Such behavior could ruin the commission's working
mechanisms, he said.
Another commission member, Muladi, said separately that the
commission had sent the names of other potential attackers to
National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo.
"The court will later decide everything," Muladi said.
Lopa said the commission always tried to cooperate with other
institutions. "We look for data, facts and come up with
something, and we seek to confirm it with police. That's what we
did about the investigation into the killing of Udin (the
journalist)," he said.
Fuad, better known as Udin, was beaten by unidentified thugs
on Aug. 13. He died three days later without regaining
consciousness.
Many believe Udin was killed because of his critical reporting
on local government policies and rampant corruption in the
administration.
Criticism
Police have been criticized for their premature claim that
they knew the identity of the killer and would capture him
quickly.
Weeks after the claim, police arrested Dwi Sumaji alias Iwik,
a driver at a local advertising firm, in a manner which also drew
criticism. The suspect was given alcohol until he passed out and
told he would be given wealth in exchange for confessing to
killing Udin.
The rights commission sent a team to study the case and found
rights violations in the arrest of the suspected killer. "We have
reported our findings for the police to follow up," Lopa said.
Lopa was in Salatiga to address a seminar on political
development at Satya Wacana Christian University.
When asked if the commission agreed with the police claim that
Iwik was the killer, Lopa said: "How can the commission agree
with something which is still not final, that is incomplete?"
The police and the commission are in the process of "checking,
rechecking and cross-checking."
"Leave the police to their conviction that Iwik is the killer.
What's important is the court's ruling. No problem, the truth
will prevail," he said. (swe)