Oetojo apologizes for failing to get Tansil

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman said yesterday he had apologized to President Soeharto for failing to capture Eddy Tansil, the country's most wanted fugitive.

Oetojo told the President he had employed every means available in a desperate search to recapture the escaped convict, even making enquiries abroad.

"I apologize to the President for this failure because it affects our working performance as the President's aide," said Oetojo after meeting with Soeharto at his residence on Jl. Cendana.

Tansil was serving a 20-year jail term when in May 1996 he walked out of the Cipinang penitentiary with a new hairdo and a beard.

He had apparently bribed guards to let him out for the evening to visit a doctor outside the prison. But Tansil did not return and his escape became a sore point to justice officials as a public outcry ensued.

Cipinang's chief warden Mintardjo was soon dismissed.

Tanzil was sentenced in 1994 after being found guilty of embezzling Rp 1.3 trillion from the state Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo).

The scandal rocked the nation because it involved several politically well-connected figures.

After Tanzil's escape, a massive manhunt was launched but the fugitive had a two day head start as even Oetojo was not informed about the case until a day later.

But Oetojo remained confident, even boasting at the time that Tanzil would be arrested in a few months. He warned Tansil to voluntarily surrender because the government could easily trace his whereabouts.

But as the search progressed, even Oetojo yesterday had to admit that arresting Tanzil was easier said than done.

"We often receive information about Tansil only to later discover that they are different people who have the same name as him," said the minister.

According to Oetojo, officials have come close including a time when Tanzil was nearly arrested abroad. But the sly former businessman was able to evade capture once again.

He said his officials would continue their search but conceded it was a difficult task as Tansil could be moving from one country to another. .

"Yesterday, we nearly arrested a man who looked similar to him in Surabaya," said Oetojo.

The common name has often led to mistaken identity.

On Sept. 22, police were alerted that a man named Tansil had been involved in a traffic accident on Jl. Pecenongan, not far from Tansil's residence in Central Jakarta.

"After we thoroughly checked his identity and his physical characteristics we found that he was not the man we were looking for," said a disappointed Oetojo two days later. (prb)