Police guarantee safety of 'Suara Independen' suspect

Police guarantee safety of 'Suara Independen' suspect

JAKARTA (JP): Police holding a suspect for defaming the
President through an unofficial publication, Suara Independen,
guarantee the suspect will be free from harm, a lawyer said.

Arief Susijamto, one of the lawyers of Andi Syahputra, said
yesterday detective Capt. Rycko Amelza Dahniel of the South
Jakarta police precinct requested the lawyers to report to him if
Andi was found to experience any mistreatment.

"He also said there would be no unauthorized 'borrowing' of
the suspect by other institutions," said Arief of the Jakarta
Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

Police arrested Andi, 31, on Sunday at 9 a.m. near a printing
plant in Cipulir with another man, Dasrul. Also seized were 5,000
copies of Suara Independen, slides, the magazine's negative and a
number of books at the plant.

However, an arrest warrant was handed to the suspects at
around 2 p.m.

Dasrul, aged around 60, is represented by lawyers from another
office, Arief said.

Another lawyer, Prastowo, commented it is an "exaggeration"
for an officer to explicitly assure the safety of a suspect.

"That is something which need not be mentioned. The safety of
a suspect and his right to be accompanied by a lawyer is already
clear in the law," the lawyer of Prastowo and Associates said.

Prastowo said the statement must have stemmed from the uproar
of the death of Tjetje Tadjudin, a suspect in a robbery who died
last week in police custody.

"I have never heard of such an assurance," said Prastowo, who
has practiced law for some 20 years.

Andi and Dasrul have been charged of violating articles 134
and 154 of the Criminal Code, a press release from the institute
said, on insulting the President, Vice President and the
government.

Detective Rycko declined to comment on the reports yesterday.

The institute also stated the magazine is published by a group
in Australia called the Indonesian Society for Alternative Media
(MIPPA) based in Melbourne, Victoria. LBH also said Dasrul ran
the printing plant.

LBH said Andi got orders to print the magazine from MIPPA, and
had no knowledge of the contents of the magazine. Andi then had
the magazines printed at Dasrul's plant.

Meanwhile Antara quoted criminologist Adrianus Meliala as
saying that the arrest is a warning from law enforcers against
unlicensed publications. (anr/jun)