Pertamina worries about loss of unguarded evidence
Pertamina worries about loss of unguarded evidence
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State oil and gas company Pertamina asked the police on
Saturday to speed up the legal processing of fuel hoarding cases
as it feared any further delay could result in a loss or
alteration of the evidence, which, in turn, would hamper the
legal processing.
"We've asked the police to expedite the legal proceedings so
as to reduce the massive amount of confiscated fuel at our
depots," said general manager of Pertamina marketing unit III
overseeing fuel supply in East Java, Jakarta and Banten provinces
Sumarsono.
He complained that Pertamina was facing difficulties in
managing thousands of tons of confiscated fuel now stockpiled at
the company's depots in Plumpang, North Jakarta and Merak, Banten
province.
"The confiscated fuel has taken up a lot of space normally
used for our stock. We cannot afford to keep it for so long," he
told The Jakarta Post.
"We cannot do anything with the evidence while the legal
processing drags on. We cannot mix it with our own fuel, so
larger holding tanks are needed for it," he said.
Legal expert at the University of Indonesia Topo Susanto
voiced similar concerns that the police had to safeguard all of
the evidence while it pursued the legal proceedings.
"The police must cooperate with the prosecutors in dealing
with the confiscated fuel," Topo said.
She warned that should the amount of fuel being stored as
evidence reduce, that could weaken the case in court.
She added that an accelerated procedure was therefore needed
to avoid any loss or alteration of the evidence.
Sumarsono said the police, however, had not yet given a
response to Pertamina's request.
Pertamina and the police have intensively been cracking down
on fuel hoarding, confiscating some 11.6 kiloliters of diesel
fuel and 54.9 kiloliters of kerosene from several locations
around Greater Jakarta.
All the confiscated fuel was now stored at the Plumpang and
Merak depots, along with eight tanker trucks.
Chief of the procurement department at Pertamina Unit III T.T.
Situmorang said that much of the confiscated fuel remained in
situ as it was impossible to transport it.
"Much of the evidence has been left at the places where it was
discovered originally, sealed off by police tape," said T.T.
Situmorang.
Situmorang, however, warned that this evidence could disappear
through evaporation or theft as it had been left unguarded by
police.
Meanwhile, chief of detectives for special crimes Adj. Sr.
Comr. Ike Edwin said that how the evidence was dealt with was
Pertamina's responsibility.
"The police are merely working to Pertamina's requests," Ike
said.
Meanwhile, according to Ike, the police and Pertamina would
continue to raid suspected fuel hoards in Greater Jakarta.