Two detained over jail escapee

Two detained over jail escapee

BOGOR (JP): Two Bogor prison officers, who were arrested
Saturday, were still being interrogated yesterday following the
escape of a defendant in the Jagorawi toll road murder and
robbery case Friday afternoon.

Another officer, in charge of administration at Paledang
Prison, could be arrested, Bogor Police Chief Col. Dadang Garnida
said yesterday.

The officers being interrogated were prison guard Deni
Juliandi, who allegedly forged a signature from the Prosecutor's
Office to allow the defendant Erling Doly Wijaya alias Mikel out
of prison, and his alleged accomplice, R. Priyatna.

Paledang Prison chief, Moelyawan, also found that on June 18,
June 21, and June 24, Mikel was removed from prison when there
was no hearing, but was brought back again.

"There is something deliberate here (in the involvement of
officers)," Police Chief Dadang said. "We'll see after the
investigation," he said in response to whether the prison chief
or Prosecutor's Office staff may have been involved.

He said the report of the escape Friday night came too late.
"Mikel could be anywhere after five or six hours on the run,"
Dadang said.

Because of the escape, a trial scheduled yesterday to hear the
prosecutor's sentence demand was postponed a week. Mikel was one
of two defendants charged in the death of a treasurer, Zaenuddin
Lesmana, in which Rp 312 million (US$127,346) in cash was
allegedly stolen from Zaenuddin's car on the Jagorawi toll road
in October 1996.

The escape and earlier attempts came to light Friday afternoon
when officials found that, despite a notice from the Prosecutor's
Office allowing Mikel out of prison for a hearing, there was no
scheduled hearing for that day.

Moelyawan said he had allowed Mikel to be brought out because
there was a prison notice signed by the head of the general crime
section at the Cibinong Prosecutors' Office, Bambang Wahyudi.

Bambang said interrogations revealed that his signature was
forged by the guard, Deni, and that Mikel was brought to a hotel
in the nearby Cisarua mountain area.

Antara quoted sources saying the defendant arrived at the
hotel at 10 a.m. with four people, including two women and two
men in uniforms from the Prosecutors' Office.

A hotel employee said a request from one of the women to book
room no. 1 for a few hours was turned down, because it was
already occupied. The employee said the five guests then chatted
and had a few drinks in the lobby on the second floor.

The five people then left in a black Suzuki vehicle, and one
of the uniformed men, who looked drunk, was being helped by
another of the group, the employee said. A short while later some
officers from the Prosecutor's Office arrived and looked
surprised when they were told the group had left. (24/anr)