Slain journalist's widow fights depression

Slain journalist's widow fights depression

By Asip Agus Hasani

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Seven months of legal proceedings have shed
no light on the bizarre murder of Yogyakarta journalist Fuad
Muhammad Syafruddin, better known as Udin, but have mounted
suffering on his widow Marsiyem.

Irregularities have marred the case, including the dumping of
Udin's blood sample into the sea by the police and the Yogyakarta
Prosecutor's Office rejecting four times the police dossiers
charging suspect Dwi Sumaji, alias Iwik, with murder.

With the homicide case hanging in the balance, Marsiyem, the
key witness of her husband's murder, is now near mental
exhaustion following seven nerve-racking police questioning
sessions.

"Her mental condition may lead to her death," Marsiyem's
psychiatrist Soemardi told The Jakarta Post last week.

An increasingly thin Marsiyem has always refused to talk to
anybody. She secludes herself in her bedroom, worrying her
parents-in-laws, Mujilah and Wagiman, who take care of her two
children, 13-year-old Yulaika Dita Kresna and three-year-old
Zulkarnaen Wikanjaya.

A tearful Mujilah, Udin's mother, said little Zulkarnaen was
confused about his mother's behavior.

"He (Zulkarnaen) always tries to ask his mother to play with
him, but receives no response. Then he cries.

"He will stop weeping only after I lull him and leave him
sleeping near his unmoved mother," Mujilah said.

Soemardi said that Marsiyem bears too much of a mental burden.
"That's why I don't recommend more police questioning. Who would
be to blame if she became insane after questioning?" he asked.

Marsiyem's refusal to continue with police questioning has
created a number of blanks in the police's dossiers, which makes
it unsurprising that the Prosecutor's Office said the dossiers
were incomplete and lacked evidence to try Iwik.

Marsiyem's lawyer Budi Hartono of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid
Institute questioned the police's professionalism for requesting
to question her more.

"So what have they done with her testimony in the last seven
sessions?" Budi asked.

Iwik, a driver for an advertising company, was released in
November after three months in police detention. He remains the
only suspect.

Udin, a journalist of the local daily Bernas, was attacked on
Aug. 13 and died in hospital four days later.

It is widely believed the assault was linked to his
investigative reporting on alleged widespread corruption within
the Bantul administration.

Marsiyem, who came face to face with the attacker, has
testified that Iwik was not the man who went to her house and
bludgeoned her husband. But the police insisted on targeting
Iwik.

Soemardi criticized the police for developing a improvised
scenario, saying jealousy had incited Iwik to beat Udin to death.
The police speculated that Udin had an affair with Iwik's wife
Sunarti.

"Marsiyem first thought that the police would help discover
the killer, but she was disappointed with the police's disrespect
of her husband," Soemardi said.

"How can a woman who is still mourning her husband tolerate
the police's treatment?" he asked.

The police are now standing trial for negligence in losing
Udin's blood sample.

Marsiyem is suing Bantul police precinct chief Lt. Col. Yotje
Mende and police officer Chief Sgt. Edy Wuryanto. She is seeking
Rp 105 million (US$45,000) in damages for negligence.

With the murder case shrouded in uncertainty, Wagiman and
Mujilah are worried about Marsiyem's worsening health.

"She may be cured if the real murderer is arrested and tried,"
said Wagiman.