Witness wants arresting police officers tried

BOGOR (JP): A businessman who testified in the Jagorawi robbery and murder case demanded that police who arrested him for another case be brought to court.

Idfiel Jaya Anwar demanded that Bogor police pay him Rp 1 million in compensation and restore his good name and dignity.

Idfiel, 36, was arrested by police right after he appeared as a witness in the Jagorawi case at Bogor District Court on May 21.

His lawyers M. Sholeh Amin and J. Jopie Gilalo, told the court yesterday in a pretrial hearing that police had not followed procedures in arresting Idfiel and had been dishonest.

Sholeh said according to legal procedures police should have summoned Idfiel and arrested him only after he had ignored a second summons. Sholeh also said that police did not produce an arrest warrant when they arrested Idfiel.

The arresting officers, Sholeh said, had told Idfiel he was being brought to a detective only for questioning about his case and then to the Cibinong Prosecutor's Office.

"But that didn't happen," Sholeh said.

Detained

"At Bogor Police Headquarters Idfiel was detained until Friday (May 23)," he said.

A warrant was only produced on the evening of May 21, after the arrest.

Police had arrested Idfiel on charges of being a fence in the thefts of a Toyota Land Cruiser and an Eterna sedan.

Police said the vehicles were stolen by Erling Doly Wijaya, alias Mikel, also a defendant in the Jagorawi toll road case, and were bought by Idfiel.

Yesterday, legal representatives of the police, Capt. Achmat Juri and Capt. Iswandi Hari, said the arrest was done according to procedures.

"Arresting officers had produced a warrant but Idfiel had resisted arrest," Achmat said.

Immediate detention was considered necessary, he said, in view of the possibility of Idfiel escaping, and because the next day was a holiday (Waisak day).

Idfiel was arrested earlier by police on charges of being the mastermind in an alleged robbery on the Jagorawi toll road and the murder of a treasurer, Zaenuddin Lesmana, on Oct. 11 last year.

The pretrial hearing is scheduled to end by next week. (24/anr)