Police confirms, downplay assassinations

Police confirms, downplay assassinations

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police confirmed on Monday the existence of many assassins for
hire in Indonesia on the heels of the cold-blooded murder of a
prominent businessman and his Army's Special Forces (Kopassus)
bodyguard at the Sasana Krida sports stadium in North Jakarta on
Saturday morning.

National Police Detective chief Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng
said that although assassinations involving hitmen existed here,
they were not organized and it was not a common occurrence.

"(The practice) is not exactly rife here. We have not
discovered any murder cases involving a hitman syndicate. If any,
it's just a matter of individual cases where someone hires an
assassin to execute someone they don't like," Erwin told
reporters at the National Police Directorate of Air and Sea
Operation Headquarters in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara reiterated
Erwin's statement, referring to the homicide case in Sunter,
North Jakarta, where a Chinese-Indonesian couple, identified as A
Sun and Melly, were killed after an alleged assassin doused them
with acid on April 30.

Police have arrested some suspects and the alleged mastermind
of the assassination. The case also implicated seven Indonesian
Navy personnel who were hired as suspected hitmen. The motive was
reportedly some type of personal vengeance by businessman Erwin
Mulia, 40, who hired the hitmen to bump off A Sun.

Makbul also commented on the recent murder of PT Asaba
computer firm president director Boedyharto Angsono, 55, and his
bodyguard First Sgt. Edy Siyet, 33. Edy was shot once in the head
while Boedyharto was shot six times in the head and back. During
the apparent contract killing, Boedyharto's driver Darjan
survived as he remained inside the bullet-proof Mercedes Benz.

The tragedy was the 13th of its kind in Jakarta since January.

A police source explained that the hitmen had to be well-
trained in using firearms and carefully planning the
assassinations as they were able to instantly paralyze Edy who
himself, as an elite Kopassus soldier, would have been very adept
at defending his client.

"They must have been smarter and more skillful than the best
in our military (Kopassus)," the source said.

Makbul said that the police were still working on the case to
find the perpetrator, and if he truly was a gun for hire, they
would pursue the person who hired him.

There have been strong allegation made earlier by Boedyharto's
relatives, who pointed to Boedyharto's former son-in-law, Gunawan
Santoso as the mastermind of the shooting. The family alleged
that revenge could be the motive.

But North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Djoko Susilo played
down the allegations by saying that the police had yet to name
Gunawan as a suspect.

However, Makbul admitted that detectives were hunting for
Gunawan, who escaped from Kuningan Penitentiary in Cirebon, West
Java, on Jan 15.

Gunawan was convicted to two years and seven months after
being found guilty in a Rp 25 billion (US$3.05 million)
embezzlement case while he was a supervisor in Boedyharto's
business.

"We started looking for him based on a request from the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights after his breakout," Makbul
said.

Gunawan's sister Sulis, 37, denied the allegations against her
brother, and claimed she had not seen him in two years.