Slain reporter's wife does not know suspect

Slain reporter's wife does not know suspect

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Marsiyem, the wife of slain journalist Fuad
Muhammad Syafruddin, said she did not recognize the man police
have accused of murdering her husband.

"It's not him, he is not the same man," Marsiyem said after
seeing a picture of Dwi Sumaji, also known as Iwik, at the office
of the Yogyakarta-branch of Indonesian Legal Aid Institute.

Marsiyem is the main witness in the case. On the evening of
Aug. 13, she opened the door for a heavyset man, reportedly
wearing a red bandana, who asked for her husband. Fuad, also
known as Udin, met the visitor while Marsiyem went inside.

Immediately afterward, Marsiyem has said, she heard Udin
shouting in pain. She later discovered him lying unconscious with
severe head injuries. The journalist, known for his critical
reporting on local administration policies, died three days after
the assault without regaining consciousness.

The case was highly publicized because of unsubstantiated
reports that linked the victim with a powerful community leader
in Bantul regency.

Dwi has told his police-appointed lawyer Djufri Taufik that on
Monday, the day before his arrest, he was visited at home in
Sleman by four men. The men offered him a cushier job than his
present one at an advertising billboard producing firm.

The men, driving a red van, took Dwi to see someone they
called "boss". Dwi claimed he was later taken to the Parangtritis
resort area some 27 kilometer south of Yogyakarta.

He said he was told to stay in a hotel and was accompanied by
a woman. He overslept until 11 in the next morning, when he was
visited by a man called Franky, the "boss".

"I'll change your lot. I'll help you get a better job, a
house, even a car. But you have to help me," Franky was quoted by
Dwi as saying. Franky then took Dwi to the police office in
Yogyakarta where he was detained. (30/swe)