Police submit Adiguna's case file to prosecutors
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
After two weeks of investigation, police handed over on Friday the case file of Adiguna Sutowo, the sole suspect in the murder of Yohannes "Rudy" Berchmans Haerudy Natong at the Hotel Hilton, to the prosecutor's office.
Comr. Andri Wibowo, who handed over the case file, said that Adiguna, a younger brother of Ponco Sutowo, one of the owners of the Hilton hotel, had been charged under Article 338 of the Criminal Code on murder with intent, and Article 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951 on illegal gun ownership.
"We are charging him with murder using an illegal gun. So according to the law, he will be punished with a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment plus one third of that term," said Andri after submitting the case file.
He added that investigators had temporarily dropped drug charges against Adiguna as they lacked evidence.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said the drug charges against Adiguna would be submitted at a later date.
"We are submitting two charges first. The drug squad will investigate the case. Hopefully, we will submit the related case file soon," said Firman at the city police headquarters.
Police announced earlier that aside from the two charges they would also charge Adiguna under article 59 of Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic drugs that carries a minimum punishment of 4 years in prison.
Farried Harianto, the prosecutor who received the case file, said that it would be reviewed within 14 days to determine its state of completion.
"However, I think we can finish reviewing the case within a week. If we think the evidence is already complete, we can proceed with the indictment and then submit it to court," he said.
Police earlier announced that the charges were based on evidence including the gun allegedly used in the shooting and 19 bullets found in Adiguna's hotel room, as well as the testimonies of several witnesses, including Wwn, who returned the gun, and Tinul, Adiguna's female companion.
Police said that at least five witnesses had testified to seeing Adiguna pull the trigger.
Forensic tests have revealed that the projectile found in Rudy's head matches the bullets found in Adiguna's hotel room, and confirmed that the projectile came from the same gun.
However, the police could not find Adiguna's fingerprints on the gun or the bullets.
While admitting that police have done well in gathering evidence to charge Adiguna, noted lawyer Johnson Panjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI) said he still saw several loopholes in the case file.
"I still see the police are trying to lighten Adiguna's punishment by putting murder as the main charge. Illegal gun possession should be the main charge because it carries the heaviest punishment, and he has a history of using 'illegal' guns against others," Johnson told The Jakarta Post.
He urged the public and the media to continue to follow the case.