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)