Police rapped for Atrium bombing investigation

Police rapped for Atrium bombing investigation

JAKARTA (JP): A lawyer denounced the police investigation of
Sunday's blast at the Atrium Plaza Senen, saying several things
were amiss.

Johnson Panjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
Association (PBHI) said it was strange that one of the key
witnesses, Ramli, the owner of the Ford Laser sedan in which the
explosives were planted, was a friend of the police.

"The police know Ramli. I have received reports from reliable
sources that some of the detectives got along well with him,"
Johnson said from city police headquarters.

"It is strange that they still can't find him and bring him in
for questioning as he is a key witness in the blast," he added.

Ramli, the owner of a used car lot in the Kebon Jeruk area of
West Jakarta, bought the sedan for Rp 15 million (US$1,579) from
Aznani, the wife of Tengku Ismuhadi, who is serving a life
sentence at Cipinang Penitentiary for his role in the Jakarta
Stock Exchange blast last September.

Aznani, acting on instructions from Ismuhadi, sold the car two
days before the bombing took place, a police report said.

Johnson said Ramli was known to have been involved in at least
three cases of vehicle-related crimes, but he had not been
summoned as a witness.

Johnson said Ramli also had a close relationship with a police
detective named Idang.

"I have talked to officer Idang and he said he knew Ramli very
well," Johnson, who is the lawyer for Tengku Ismuhadi and Aznani,
said.

"Ramli is a 'mischievous businessman'," Johnson quoted Idang
as saying.

Johnson also said that police were focusing on the car's sales
transaction between Aznani and Ramli, and not with finding more
information on how the car was obtained and used in the blast.

"When police summoned Ismuhadi for questioning (on late
Thursday), they also focused on the car," Johnson said,
adding that he suspected the police would soon charge Ismuhadi as
a suspect in the blast.

Ismuhadi's wife, Aznani, was charged as a suspect in the
blast.

"If police really charge him as a suspect, we will immediately
file a pretrial suit against the police as they have a lack of
evidence for charging either Ismuhadi or Aznani as suspects. The
car no longer belongs to them," Johnson said.

When asked to comment, city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton
Bachrul Alam said the police would continue the blast
investigation and would uphold the law while carrying out the
investigation.(emf)