Tinul admits seeing Adiguna shoot Rudy: Police
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Novia "Tinul" Herdiana, a key witness in the murder of Yohannes "Rudy" Berchmans Haerudy Natong, has reportedly admitted that she saw Adiguna Sutowo, the sole suspect in the murder, shoot the victim.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said that after changing her statement several times, Tinul, a director of five- star Mulia hotel in Central Jakarta, acknowledged that she saw Adiguna commit the crime at 3:30 a.m. at the Hilton hotel's Fluid Club on Jan. 1.
"After almost a whole day of interrogation, she finally admitted in an affidavit that she saw Adiguna shoot Rudy," Tjiptono said on Wednesday.
Tinul, Adiguna's female companion at the time of the shooting, was interrogated intensively since Monday after she was named a suspect for giving police false information.
Tinul will be charged under Article 242 of the Criminal Code. The article rules that any individual proved of giving false information to the police can be sentenced for up to seven years in prison.
Tinul initially told the police that she had left the club at 3 a.m. However, she changed her story when police presented her with a receipt proving that she paid her last bill at 4:07 a.m.
An officer at city police headquarters revealed that Tinul, a cousin of Adiguna's second wife Vika, decided to change her statement after the police threatened to lock her up.
"She didn't want to be detained so she spoke up," the source told The Jakarta Post.
According to procedure, a suspect facing a charge that carries a sentence of five years or more can be detained for 120 days.
Tinul is the fifth witness to claim she saw Adiguna, a son of former state oil and gas company Pertamina director Ibnu Sutowo, pull the trigger.
Tjiptono said that as soon as Tinul, who is in her early 40s, gave a statement that incriminated Adiguna, she asked for police protection until the case was brought to trial.
"She was terrified after changing her statement and asked for protection. We have provided officers to protect her because it is our duty to do so, especially since Tinul is a very important witness in the case," he said.
Tjiptono added that the police would submit Adiguna's case file to the prosecutor's office this week.
"We are still trying to get Adiguna's confession to complete the case file. Give us two or three days, we will make him talk," he said.
Adiguna continues to deny having shot Rudy, saying that he was in another room when the incident occurred, and in fact he was trying to help Rudy by advising that he be taken to a nearby clinic.