Rights body doubts arrest of killer

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)