Police seeking new evidence in Ria case

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said Saturday his subordinates were seeking new evidence to reopen the starlet Ria Irawan case which has been closed for two years.

He said if new evidence was found the case which had been closed by the Attorney General's office, could be reopened.

"We'll see later," he was quoted by Antara news agency as saying after a ceremony marking the transfer of the Cimanggis and Sawangan police subprecincts from the West Java police to Jakarta Metropolitan police. The ceremony took place in Depok, 30 kilometers south of the capital.

The Ria Irawan case began on Jan. 12, 1994 after a man named Rifardi was found dead in the starlet's house in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.

Ria was one of several people questioned by police. However, police said they lacked evidence linking anyone to the mysterious death of the businessman.

She was then questioned about her alleged involvement in a drug syndicate and was suspected of disposing of material evidence in the death of Rifardi.

The prosecutors' office then issued an official letter halting the case, saying police had failed to collected adequate material evidence.

One of the items of evidence sought by the prosecutors' office was a plate believed to have been used for mixing the drugs which allegedly caused the death.

Ria was reported to have thrown the plate into the river.

Hamami did not comment when the prosecutors' office engineered the halt of the investigation because the material evidence was missing.

In a related development Hamami said the dossier on Zarina, the woman notorious for being caught with almost 30,000 Ecstasy pills, would be completed soon.

He said he was concerned about statements on the Zarina case made by "irresponsible people".

"Those who do not know about the case should have given no statements," he said.

Zarina who eluded police in August and ran to Houston, U.S. was arrested in Houston and sent home last month.

According to the health law, those found distributing drugs could be sentenced to a maximum 15 years in jail and fined Rp 300 million. (sur)