'Prosecutors can defend police'
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Yogyakarta Prosecutors Office can represent the National Police who are facing a lawsuit from Marsiyem, widow of slain journalist Muhammad Fuad Syafruddin, an official said.
Deputy chief of the prosecutors' office Soeparman said yesterday, that according to the law, the office could name lawyers for government officials standing trial.
However, Soeparman said his office has yet to receive a formal request from the National Police.
Soeparman was commenting on Marsiyem's lawsuit against the police for allegedly omitting evidence in the investigation into the murder of her husband. The Yogyakarta office of the Legal Aid Institute on behalf of Marsiyem said Tuesday they expected to take the police to Bantul District Court for negligence.
Days after the death of Bernas daily reporter Syafruddin, also known as Udin, in August, a number of Bantul police officers borrowed a sample of Syafruddin's blood from Marsiyem for investigation purposes but have never returned it.
Yogyakarta Police chief Col. Mulyono Sulaiman later said the blood had been floated out into the Indonesian Ocean, a practice in this sultanate as a devotion to Queen of the Sea. Mulyono argued this would help the police solve the murder riddle.
The police have so far named Dwi Sumaji, a driver at a local advertising firm, as the only suspect.
Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo told the House of Representatives last month that a DNA test conducted at a laboratory in England confirmed that a speck of blood found on a shirt, that police claim Dwi wore the night of the murder, belonged to the journalist.
Dwi was released after two months of detention following a second rejection of the police's dossiers on him by the prosecutor's office.
The legal aid office also sent a letter yesterday to the National Police, at Dwi's request, urging them to probe Ahmad Nizar Shahab, a businessman from Bogor, West Java, and Edi Wuryanto, an officer at Bantul police, for clearing the way for Dwi's unusual arrest.
Earlier reports said the police used alcohol and a woman to try to get Dwi to confess to the murder; despite criticism from various corners police defend the method. Ahmad denied allegations of involvement.
The legal aid office said yesterday it had drawn up a chronological report on Udin's murder and investigation. It calls the report "the white book".
"In short, the book reveals the true killer of Udin," spokesman Budi Hartono said.
Budi said the book would help anybody who wanted a complete picture of the case.
"Now the book has been published, there should be no reason to consider this murder case a dark number," Budi said. A dark number is the police term for an unsolved case.
Budi indicated certain parties wanted Udin's murder case left closed.
The institute recorded three murder cases within the Yogyakarta police jurisdiction which have been hanging in the balance. They are the slaughter of a family in Langenastran, the death of a dentist in Pakuningratan and the murder of a street singer in Kleringan. (23/amd)