Police sued over journalist's murder

JAKARTA: The Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) has sued the government, police and the Indonesian military (TNI) for not prosecuting Second Adj. Insp. Edy Wuryanto, the alleged murderer of former Bernas journalist Muhammad "Udin" Syafiudin.

AJI and the South East Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) submitted the case on Tuesday to the South Jakarta District Court, seeking Rp 1 billion (US$112,000) in financial compensation.

Udin, a journalist from Bernas daily was killed on Aug. 16, 1996 after writing about alleged corruption by government officials.

A civilian, Dwi Sumadji (Iwik) had previously reported that he witnessed Edy Wiryanto beating Udin.

However the police instead arrested Iwik, as a suspect in the murder. Iwik was later released due to a lack of evidence.

The South Jakarta Court judges had urged AJI and the police to negotiate a settlement over the matter, but AJI stood firm with its desire to see justice carried out. -- Antara