Police declare Adrian's lawyer a suspect
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.