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Prosecutors asked to free Jombang residents
East Java Provincial Police chief Insp
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East Java Provincial Police chief Insp. Gen. Herman Surjadi Sumawiredja has called on the prosecutor's office to release two Jombang residents who were wrongly convicted in a murder case.
New scientific evidence has proven Devid Eko Priyanto and Imam Khambali alias Kemat, who are serving their 12 and 17-year jail sentences, respectively, at Jombang Penitentiary, were wrongly accused of the crime.
"We apologize for the error, which we have reported in an official letter we sent to the district prosecutor's office and the district court in Jombang owing to new evidence in this case," he told reporters in Surabaya over the weekend.
Kemat and Devid were detained by the Jombang Police in May over allegations they, along with Maman Sugianto alias Sugik -- all residents of Jombang -- were involved in the murder of Asrori, whose body was found on a sugarcane plantation in Bandar, Kedungmulyo, Jombang, in September 2007.
Sugik was convicted of murder by the Jombang District Court.
Serial killer Very Idham Henyansyah alias Ryan recently confessed to killing Asrori and burying his body in the backyard of his parents' home in Jombang, a claim backed up by Police DNA evidence, which also found that the body recovered on the plantation belonged to Fauzin, who went missing in September 2007.
Last month, the police arrested Rudi Hartono when he came to a Sidoarjo Police station to pay vehicle tax for Fauzin's motorcycle.
During the initial police investigation, Rudi, a transvestite living in Kediri, admitted to killing Fauzin because he had not been paid in return for his sexual service.
The police have also detained Joni Krisnanto, who allegedly plotted with Rudi to commit the murder.
Justice Kartidjono, who presided over the panel of justices trying Sugik, said the justices were considering dropping the case in line with the new police evidence.
However, he said he did not know when the court would drop the case as the matter needed to be discussed with the Supreme Court.
However, the same court reopened the case after Kemat and Devid's lawyers filed an official letter informing about the new evidence.
The provincial police chief also pledged to investigate all police personnel involved in the preliminary murder investigation, including those who compiled Kemat and Devid's dossiers.
"Those involved in the investigation will be processed according to civilian law and they will stand trial to be held accountable for their actions," he said, adding that the prisoners had the right to ask for compensation for being wrongly imprisoned and to demand that the court publicly announce their innocence.
