Rights body doubts arrest of killer

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights yesterday said it still doubted that police had caught the killer of Yogyakarta journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin.

Commission chairman Munawir Sjadzali, speaking to the press here yesterday, pointed out the confidence that police already expressed that the person they arrested was the real murderer of the Bernas daily reporter.

"Couldn't there be another person?" Munawir said.

Meanwhile, police have denied they arbitrarily arrested DS alias Iwik. Yogyakarta police chief Col. Mulyono Sulaiman said in Yogyakarta on Wednesday that his officers had followed correct procedure, including carrying a warrant, when they arrested DS alias Iwik, on Oct. 21.

Mulyono was responding to the preliminary findings of the rights commission investigation team which claim the arrest violated the suspect's rights.

"Considering the nature of the case, I ordered the arrest to be conducted quietly. That is why Iwik was not arrested at home. It was done without violence," Mulyono said.

Police believe Iwik visited Fuad at his home on Aug. 13 and beat him into a coma. The journalist, known for his critical reporting, died on Aug. 16 without regaining consciousness.

Iwik was arrested as he was about to board a bus. He was taken to a hotel in the Parangtritis resort south of here and given alcoholic drinks until he passed out.

He claimed that the people who took him to the resort offered him a wealth and a better job if he admitted to killing the journalist.

"It was just one of the police techniques and strategies in investigating the case," Mulyono argued.

The police chief denied planting evidence, including the blood-stained iron bar claimed to be the murder weapon.

He claimed police began their investigations into the murder with two possible motives: jealousy of a love affair, and rage engendered by the journalist's writings.

"We gave up the 'news report' motive, because the evidence led us to the first motive," he said.

Many people believe Fuad, better known as Udin, was killed because of his critical reporting on the allegedly corrupt activities of a powerful local leader in Bantul regency.

Mulyono said the police will leave it to the court to decide whether the suspect is guilty or not.

"We would be relieved if the court later decides to acquit the suspect of killing Udin due to jealousy," he said. But police would continue their investigations into the murder, starting from the second possible motive.

In response to requests from Iwik's lawyers for police to return a sample of Udin's blood, police said the blood sample, borrowed from the victim's family, had been used for two purposes.

In the Javanese tradition of melabuh, police floated a sample of blood out to sea hoping superior forces would lead them to the murderer.

The second portion of the blood sample was used in the investigation and later thrown away, he said.

Iwik's lawyers demanded the return of the blood sample for fear police would stain the "evidence". (30/26)