Police officers accused of selling evidence

JAKARTA (JP): A businesswoman accused members of the city police economic detective unit of allegedly selling 7.32 tons of garlic they confiscated from her last year.

The owner of the garlic, Setia Arba Sibarani, 43, went to the city police headquarters on Monday to file a complaint against the officers, but nobody was willing to receive her.

The identity of the officers involved in the sale of the garlic remains unknown, but Setia, a spice vendor at Senen market in Central Jakarta, said one of the unit's members, identified only as Maj. YL, was deeply involved in the case.

Chief of the economic detective unit Lt. Col. Usman Nasution, however, strongly denied that his officers were involved in the sale of the confiscated garlic.

"We have followed all the standard procedures in this case. As far as I'm concerned, none of the officers are involved," Usman said.

Setia disagreed, saying that: "The police seized the garlic from my warehouse at Senen market in a raid on Nov. 20 conducted on the grounds that I did not have the correct documents for the bulbs. I was accused of being involved in illegal garlic transactions".

She was confused, she said, because garlic transactions were common occurrences, especially among Senen market's spice vendors, who make transactions of this sort every day without having to produce any documentation.

"I was overwhelmed during the raid. When I asked the officers if they had a warrant letter they replied by firing six shots into the air with their guns. They refused to show me the warrant letter," Setia explained.

On that same day, officers removed the garlic, which was packed in 141 sacks, declared Setia a suspected illegal garlic dealer, and detained her from Nov. 21, to Dec. 10, last year. She was released on Rp 23.5 million bail on Dec. 11, 1997.

Her husband, Gompar Manurung, urged police to retain the garlic in the form of money obtained from its sale, rather than keeping the bulbs, which he feared would rot in custody. His request was rejected.

Earlier this month, Setia received a call from a woman named Lely, who claimed that she bought part of the confiscated garlic from police officers on the day following the raid.

"She promised to give me back the garlic in the form of money because she had already sold most of it," Setia told reporters.

On April 3, 1998, Setia met Lely, who was accompanied by Maj. YL and another officer, identified as AP, at Atrium Plaza, Central Jakarta. The three people agreed to repay Rp 27 million to Setia in compensation for the garlic confiscated during last year's raid.

However, Lely has not yet handed over the promised money and the remaining garlic has reportedly rotted due to poor storage.

"Five tons of the seized garlic was reportedly burned by police officers on the orders of Central Jakarta District Court, as stated in court order No. 1557/Pen.Pid/ PN.JKT.PST.," she said.

Lely allegedly informed Setia that the garlic was not in fact burned and that police officers had falsified the court burning order, Setia said.

The police told her that they were allowed to burn evidence in special cases involving perishable goods, provided that they informed the district court of their intentions in writing and received a legal blessing for their actions, she said.

"I've checked with Central Jakarta District Court to verify this, but they said they never issued that kind of order," she added.

The officers allegedly set fire to a pile of refuse, not my garlic bulbs, Setia said.

Lely admitted to having earned Rp 20 million from sale of the garlic and said that part of the proceeds had been passed on to other parties involved in the sale of the pungent bulbs.

"Lely said she had given Rp 5 million to Maj. YL, Rp 2 million to a prosecutor involved in the case, Rp 2 million to quarantine officers and used Rp 1 million to purchase garbage used to fake the incineration.

"When I tried to collect the money, Lely just said: 'Sorry my money is finished because I had to pay those officers'," Setia said.

"All I want is for the police to explain my arrest and why they sold the evidence," she added.

Usman said the police had summoned Lely for questioning about her involvement in the case. She is due to be questioned today.

"Let's keep an open mind about this," he added.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. Aritonang refused to comment on the matter. "I'll have to check this," he said. (edt)