Prosecutor's office staff implicated in foiled escape

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police have declared three North Jakarta Prosecutor's Office personnel as suspects in assisting defendant Gunawan Santosa to escape on the way to the North Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.

"Our investigation reveals that the three men -- Sukrisman, Padmawinata and Dadang -- did not handcuff Gunawan. They also did not search him before putting him into the paddy wagon, nor ask for police assistance in transporting him," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said on Wednesday.

"One of them even had a friendly conversation with Gunawan inside the paddy wagon. It violates procedures in escorting a defendant."

The three suspects will be charged under Article 462(1) of the Criminal Code on deliberately releasing a prisoner. The article carries a maximum of four years' imprisonment.

Gunawan was on his way to court -- he was to stand a trial for the premeditated murder of his ex father-in-law, president director of PT Aneka Sarana Bakti (Asaba), and his bodyguard -- when he tried to escape.

Police said he pointed a 32 caliber Beretta pistol at Sukrisman, who was sitting next to him, and told the guard to uncuff him. They scuffled and the pistol went off, hitting Gunawan in the midriff.

But the police statement differs from that of witnesses, who say Gunawan fell from the vehicle and was knocked unconscious when his head hit the asphalt. When he was taken to the nearby health clinic, they did not see blood stains until the prosecutor's guards and patrolling police took Gunawan away.

Gunawan's lawyer, Alamsyah Hanafiah, has questioned the police's claim that his client accidentally shot himself.

"I saw on TV that Gunawan was bleeding on his left side, and blood splattered his brown khaki shorts," he said. "But the Salemba warden said Gunawan was wearing a white shirt and black trousers.

"I just talked to Gunawan, who has had surgery at the (Soekanto Police) hospital, but he could not talk clearly as he's still groggy from the anesthetic," he told The Jakarta Post.

Prasetyo acknowledged that investigators had yet to discover how Gunawan managed to obtain the gun, three sets of handcuffs, a cellular phone and Rp 35.92 million (US4,177) in cash.

The prosecutor's office has transported Gunawan six times from Salemba Penitentiary, Central Jakarta, to the court. The office requested police assistance for only the first two trips.

"They did not ask for police assistance (this time)," Prasetyo said.

His statement was dismissed by Attorney General's Office spokesman Kiemas Yahya, who claimed that the North Jakarta Prosecutor's Office head had submitted a request dated March 29, asking for police assistance to deliver 58 detainees to the North Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.

Prasetyo insisted that there was no request but promised to check further.

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights' corrective services director general Adi Suyatno blamed the prosecutor's office for not requesting police assistance in the case.

"The (Salemba) penitentiary checked him prior to his journey to the court. He was clean," he said. "Why didn't they ask for police escorts? They usually do."

I-box

May 4, 1996: Eddy Tansil, convicted of bank fraud amounting to Rp

1.3 trillion, escaped from Cipinang Penitentiary in East

Jakarta by bribing several guards. He was two years into his

20-year jail term. He is still at large.

Nov. 2, 2000: Former president Soeharto's son, Hutomo "Tommy"

Mandala Putra, escaped arrest after then president

Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid rejected his request for a

presidential pardon. Tommy was then arrested in a rented

house in Bintaro, Tangerang, on Nov. 28, 2001.

Feb. 16, 2001: A suspect in the Jakarta Stock Exchange bombing

Ibrahim Abdul Manap escaped from Cipinang Penitentiary. He

is still at large.

May 30, 2001: Businessman Sjamsul Nursalim, a suspect in a Rp

7.28 trillion graft case and a detainee at the Attorney

General's Office, departed for Japan for a medical

examination with the consent of the Attorney General's

Office. He remains in Japan.

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