Witness tells court of tortures during Antasari's murder case investigation

Eny Wulandari ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 12/08/2009 2:09 PM  |  Jakarta

Alleged hitman Eduardus Noe Ndopo Bete, or Edo, has said that he was tortured by policemen during the investigation into the high-profile murder case of director Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, in which former anti-graft leader Antasari Azhar is implicated.

During a court session of Antarsari's trial at the South Jakarta District Court, Tuesday, Edo said that the policemen assaulted him when he was taken from his home to the Jakarta Police Office on April 27.

“They stopped at a motel and interrogated me on my role in the case. I was forced to sign dossiers...under pressure and intimidation,” Edo said.

During the interrogation session, he added, he admitted he had known Hendrikus Kia Walen who was also being questioned and tortured at the same place.

“But I did not know about the rest of the three [alleged] hitmen,” he said, referring to Daniel Daen Sabon, Heri Santosa and Fransiskus Tadon Kerans.

He confirmed that Sr. Comr. Wiliardi Wizard had given him Rp. 500 million as fee to monitor a certain person who was deemed very dangerous to the state.

Wiliardi, the former South Jakarta Police chief who allegedly contracted the hit men, is in the dock alongside Antasari and Sigid Haryo Wibisono, the media mogul who allegedly paid them. The three men are being tried separately and on different charges in the case.

“But Pak Wiliardi never told us to kill that person,” he said, adding that he did not know the name of the person he was supposed to monitor.

He further said that he only knew about the murder after he was detained by the police.

“When the incident took place on March 14, I was in Flores until March 25. So, I do not know about the incident,” he said.

Edo is currently standing trial and facing a life sentence for allegedly murdering Nasrudin.

Today's trial is scheduled to present testimonies from five alleged hitmen but one of them, Heru Santosa, had objected to testifying in the session, saying he has already given testimonies in other trial sessions.

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It is a sad fact but true, that our police force, through their own actions, have lost all credibility. Until there is a wholesale, and completely transparent, clean-up of the institution, there will be a doubt attached to every case that they handle. It is now an every day occurrence to read of police criminality in various forms; abuse, corruption, conspiracy, fabrication, torture, manslaughter, drug dealing, etc., it just goes on and on. The level of respect and trust for the police in Indonesia is at zero: ABSOLUTE ZERO throughout the whole of the ordinary, law abiding population. It has to change: how can we function as a country without any law or justice? How can we function with a police force that is made up of thugs and criminals?

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