Police declare Adrian's lawyer a suspect

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Amid public pressure, National Police Headquarters declared Doni Antares Irawan -- the lawyer of a key suspect in the Rp 1.7 trillion (US$185 million) Bank Negara Indonesia scandal -- a suspect on Tuesday.

Doni allegedly provided false information and assisted his client, Adrian Waworuntu, evade arrest, said National Police detectives chief Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono.

The National Police have been searching for Adrian for months now, and summoned Doni for interrogation at their headquarters this Thursday. The police are hoping that Doni will reveal the whereabouts of Adrian, who is on their most-wanted list.

The police will also question Adrian's doctor F. Winerungan as a witness, Suyitno said.

In a recent letter, Adrian asked the police, through Doni, for a seven-day stay for medical reasons. Doni guaranteed his client would surrender to the police on Oct. 1., but on that day Adrian was declared a suspect as he failed to show up.

Noted lawyer Frans Hendra Winarta said on Tuesday, although Doni was a lawyer, naming him a suspect was within the law.

"A lawyer should cooperate with the police, and report his client's whereabouts. A lawyer can't be declared a suspect if he is practicing according to the law. But, if there are strong indications that he has helped his client escape, then he can be named a suspect," he told The Jakarta Post.

The National Police were taught a similar lesson in the case of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the son of former president Soeharto.

Tommy, who is serving time in prison for his role in a murder case, once escaped arrest, allegedly thanks to the help of his lawyer Elsa Syarif. Elsa was named a suspect and detained, but later released, with no clear explanation.

In the BNI case, several executives of export companies PT Gramarindo and the Petindo group, including Adrian, were accused of embezzling money from the second-largest bank in the country between 2002 and 2003, by using letters of credit from banks in the Congo and Kenya to withdraw money from BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch.

The letters of credit turned out to be fake, causing the state bank to suffer losses of Rp 1.7 trillion. There are 16 suspects in the case. Some suspects are still large, while others have been jailed.

The police's performance in the case has given rise to suspicion, as to why the key suspect, Adrian, has slipped through their fingers.