Rape suspects wrongly released

Rape suspects wrongly released

JAKARTA (JP): The nine suspects involved in the 1993 rape-
murder case of female labor activist Marsinah were freed not
because they were not guilty but because the prosecution had been
wrong from the start, a National Police spokesman said.

"The investigation of the entire case was never held inside a
police station, and the case was always handled under the threat
of violence from a certain party," Brig. Gen. Erald Dotulong told
reporters at the National Police headquarters.

"This is basically what we came down to, following the third
and final stages of investigation and the exposure of this case
today (Friday) in front of National Police chief Gen.
Rusdihardjo, chief of detectives Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and
other detectives."

Erald said the investigation has, from the beginning, flouted
the standard procedures required in Indonesian law, which has led
to the release of the nine suspects.

"The case is open after President Abdurrahman Wahid himself
ordered its reopening... We still need to do a lot about this
case," Erald said.

Marsinah was murdered after leading a strike at PT Catur Putra
Surya, a watch-making factory in Sidoarjo, East Java. Her badly
mutilated body was found on May 9, 1993, in an abandoned shack
near Nganjuk, East Java.

Judi Susanto, director of the company and alleged mastermind
of the murder, was released in November 1994 after the East Java
High Court overturned his conviction. He had been sentenced to 17
years, the stiffest jail term handed down in the case.

A secretary at the company, Mutiari, who was sentenced to
seven months in prison by Sidoarjo District Court for allegedly
being an accessory to the murder, was also exonerated by the
court. She was released from Medaeng Prison in August 1994 after
serving six months.

The other seven defendants, who were released by a Supreme
Court ruling in May 1995, were also employees of the company:
Yudi Astono (sentenced to four years in jail prior to being
exonerated), Bambang Wuryantoyo (12 years), Widayat (12 years),
A.S. Prayogi (12 years), Karyono Wongso (13 years), Soewono (12
years) and Soeprapto (12 years).

The East Java Police and the National Police have repeatedly
set up special teams to investigate the killing, but to no avail.

Amid mounting calls for justice in this case, Rusdihardjo
faulted the police earlier this month for not saving Marsinah,
who he said was clinging to life when she was found.

"Marsinah shouldn't have died... Some truck drivers saw her at
night in the woods after she had been beaten up," Rusdihardjo
said the day after he was installed.

"The truck drivers ran away, frightened by a ghost. One of
them contacted the Madiun Police. Precinct officers came... took
one look at her and thought she was mentally ill. They should
have helped her. She was still alive.

"They threw her in the back of a Kijang van, driving her
through remote areas to the Jombang precinct. She died there,
most likely of excessive blood loss."

Earlier, lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan said the police were legally
obliged to reopen the case.

"The National Police should temporarily stop running after
lucrative cases, like gambling and prostitution, which only
provide them with more money, and should concentrate on this
case."

Rusdihardjo earlier acknowledged that he was one of the
investigating officers in the Marsinah case. He personally
checked on the Porong Military District Command (Kodim), which
some have speculated was the site of Marsinah's rape and murder.

"There was too much blood everywhere. We were shocked. There
was also an operational mini van. It was a box van. There was
also blood on the seats."

When asked whether the then commanding officer of the Porong
military district and the then chiefs of Madiun and Jombang
police precincts to be called as witnesses in the case, Erald
said the people would just have to wait and see. (ylt)