Prosecutors urged to begin Udin trial

SEMARANG (JP): Senior law expert Muladi urged prosecutors in Yogyakarta Saturday to begin the trial of the man suspected by police of murdering journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, better known as Udin.

The Yogyakarta prosecutor's office has rejected the dossiers of Dwi Sumaji, alias Iwik, filed four times by the police on the grounds that the documents were "incomplete".

The police believe that Iwik murdered Udin last August because the Bernas daily journalist was allegedly having an affair with his wife. Iwik and Udin's relatives have denied the accusation.

Muladi said that the long-awaited trial had been postponed because the police failed to present sufficient evidence.

"The court should open the trial and decide in favor of Iwik," said Muladi, who is the rector of Diponegoro University and a member of the National Commission on Human Rights.

The investigation into the murder of Udin has been marred by accusations that the police have been attempting a cover-up to silence critics, who believe that the journalist was murdered because of his investigative reporting into the Bantul regency administration.

One such report alleged that Bantul regent Col. Sri Roso Sudarmo had offered Rp 1 billion (about US$425,000) to a powerful Jakarta-based foundation to help ensure his re-election last year. The regent denies the claim.

Muladi questioned the motives behind the prosecution's persistent rejection of the dossiers on Iwik. "If the police don't have sufficient evidence, then the prosecutors can demand that Iwik be acquitted," he said.

Criminal Code procedures do not limit the number of times police can file a suspect's dossiers with the prosecution.

"Unless there is significant progress in their investigation," said Muladi, "the police should not hesitate to declare the case closed." (har/pan)