Oetojo apologizes for failing to get Tansil

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)