Police capture suspect in murder of Palu prosecutor

Police capture suspect in murder of Palu prosecutor

Ruslan Sangadji, Palu

Police have arrested a suspect in last week's murder of public
prosecutor Ferry Silalahi, who helped try terrorism cases in
Palu, Central Sulawesi.

The suspect, identified only by his initial "E", was captured
late on Tuesday night in Ampibabo, Parigi Moutong, some 150
kilometers north of Palu, sources connected with local police
said on Wednesday.

They said E, who was believed to have been one of the men who
carried out the murder under orders, was being interrogated by a
joint team set up by the Palu and Central Sulawesi Police
offices.

However, police refused to reveal the results of the
investigation into the suspect, who was arrested by a special
squad led by Palu Police deputy chief Comr. Sambas Kurniawan.

Ferry, 46, was shot dead shortly after 10:00 p.m. on May 26 in
his car outside a house on Jl. Swadaya in Tana Modindi, South
Palu, just after attending an evening church service there along
with his wife, Yulia.

Yulia, who survived the incident, said four men with long hair
and dark skin carried out the deadly attack.

Police said they were continuing the search for other suspects
and sketches of two of the men had been posted across the
province.

The murder prompted the National Police to provide officers to
guard prosecutors and judges in Palu and other conflict areas.

Palu is about 200 kilometers from Poso -- an area that has
recently experienced a string of attacks by unidentified gunmen.

Ferry had been working in Palu for over a year and had dealt
with dozens of cases involving corruption and terrorism.

However, a police source told The Jakarta Post the
interrogation had yet to show whether Ferry's murder had any
relation to the cases he had handled.

Ferry had prosecuted the cases of three suspected terrorists,
Firmansyah, Fajri and Aang Hasanuddin in Palu.

Firmansyah and Fajri were sentenced to five years for aiding
and abetting a Bali bombing suspect, Achmad Roichan, while Aang
was jailed for three years for not informing police of the
activities of the other two.

Ferry was also in charge in a team of prosecutors that was to
try a major corruption case against Ambo Dalle, director of the
Central Sulawesi village cooperatives center, which involved
billions of rupiah.

During his tenure at the Tangerang Prosecutor's Office in
Banten, Ferry prosecuted Ang Kim Soei, who was sentenced to death
in 2003 for operating an ecstasy laboratory, reported to be one
of Southeast Asia's largest.