The changing views were summed up by then Jakarta Police general crimes investigations director Sr. Comr. Muhammad Iriawan.

“We discovered who the field operators were and began to arrest them, one by one. At that point, nothing seemed too extraordinary about this case,” Iriawan said recently.

Then, he continued, everything seemed to change, when the field operators said the order to murder Nasruddin had come from one of the country’s most important figures, Antasari Azhar, then chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

A team of detectives then moved quickly to investigate the case further, he said. A string of evidence pointed police to the involvement of media mogul Sigid Aryo Wibisono, former South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Williardi Wizar and night club businessman Jerry Hermawan Lo.

Uncovering what seemed to be a clear scenario, police were confident in saying the murder had been masterminded by Antasari Azhar, claiming that all evidence pointed to his involvement in the murder.

However, during hearings the public began to see there was a possibility that the investigations were manipulated.

In Wiliardi’s testimony, he said he was forced by Insp. Gen. Hadiatmoko, then deputy chief detective, to testify that he was ordered by Antasari to murder Nasruddin.

According to Williardi, this false testimony was aimed at dragging Antasari to prison. However, Wiliardi’s testimony was then denied by Hadiatmoko, who was also summoned to the hearing for clarification.

Speculation emerged in the public that Antasari could have been framed, and that his arrest was an attempt to weaken the KPK, which had drawn many enemies from various circles after arresting numerous high-ranking officials including mayors, governors, legislators and ministers — even Aulia Pohan, the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s son.   

Others suggested that Antasari was arrested to stop the KPK’s investigation into the alleged fraud at the National Election Commission, which could have affected Yudhoyono’s recent victory in the presidential race.

Hadiatmoko claimed he had never ordered Wiliardi to admit to the murder. He also said he had no interest in the case.

Last Thursday, Susno Duadji, however, testified that Hadiatmoko was in fact the head of a team
overseeing investigations into Antasari’s case.

Other suspicious issues concerned the condition of the remains of Nasruddin, and the bullets and guns that were allegedly used to kill him.

Forensics expert Mun’im Idris testified that the body had been arranged so as to satisfy certain conditions required by police.

Mun’im also said he was forced by a police officer not to fill in part of the report on the cause of death that stated the caliber of the bullets that hit the victim.

Earlier, ballistics expert A. Simanjuntak said the bullets presented in the trial had not matched the
type of gun allegedly used to kill Nasruddin.

Mun’im had also said that judging by the wounds to the body and considering the caliber of the guns allegedly used, his killers must have shot him from a fair distance away because the bullets had not passed through the body.

The police and prosecutors have refuted all allegations.

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