Three youths charged in stabbing incident

JAKARTA (JP): Police have charged three youths in relation to the stabbing of a member of the Kuwaiti royal family at Hotel Mulia Senayan in South Jakarta early Saturday morning.

Head of city police detectives Col. Gories Mere said yesterday that two local youths Bram, 25, and Abi, 22, were charged with the assault and a Kuwaiti named Yousef Al-Raqam, 22, was charged with assaulting a security officer.

A fourth youth identified as Dav was also detained by police after the incident, but was later released as he was reportedly not involved in the case.

The three allegedly violated Article 170 of the Criminal Code on acts of assault, Gories said.

The article stipulates that a person found guilty of stabbing could face a maximum nine years in jail.

"The two local youths are believed to have been involved in the stabbing of a member of the Kuwaiti royal family named Ahmad al-Sabah, while Yousef allegedly attacked Parjono, one of the hotel's security officers," he said.

Police apprehended Bram and Abi at the latter's house in Ciganjur, South Jakarta and Yousef at the hotel on Saturday morning.

"We still have the three of them in detention here," said Gories, denying allegations that Abi, a son of Yapto Sumosumarno, one of the leaders of the Pemuda Pancasila youth organization, had been released on bail.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said several people, including a woman, Abi and Parjono, were questioned about what happened.

He said preliminary investigations indicated that Ahmad had started an argument with Abi, Bram and some of their friends by teasing a woman in their group.

Abi reportedly took umbrage at the teasing and with Bram and their group of friends started an argument with Ahmad's group that erupted into a fight, said Aritonang.

The stabbing itself, he said, happened very quickly during the fight.

"Police have seized a knife covered with blood stains from Bram. But we still need to prove whether or not it was really Bram who stabbed Ahmad in the abdomen."

He said Yousef allegedly punched Parjono when the latter tried to break up the crowd soon after Ahmad was stabbed.

"The result of the preliminary investigation is not final. We still need to hear from Ahmad himself about what caused the fight and who did the stabbing. He is undergoing medical treatment at a private hospital," Aritonang said without naming the hospital.

He only said that Ahmad first went to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta for treatment.

Anthony LP. Hutapea, a lawyer representing the Kuwaiti Embassy, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that his office was trying to get Yousef released on bail.

"We'd like to get Yousef out of the police detention center because he was really nervous about being jailed in a foreign country," he said.

Anthony also said the embassy had contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and planned to meet the police chief to talk about the case. (cst)