Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Dozens of activists are urging president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to resolve various human rights abuse cases, including the murder of Bernas daily journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin (Udin), which took place 18 years ago.
The activists are united under the Prep Committee of the Establishment of Democracy and Human Rights Fighters Family Forum (KP3KPD).
"The president-elect, with his power, could summon the National Police chief and ask about the case's development in order to shed some light on the case," the forum's deputy head, Erwin Razak, said Tuesday during a visit to Udin's family house in Gedongan hamlet, Bantul, Yogyakarta.
Udin was tortured by unidentified individuals at his home in Bantul, Yogyakarta, on Aug. 13, 1996. He did not regain consciousness and died three days later at the Bethesda Hospital, Yogyakarta.
The police named Dwi Sumaji, alias Iwik, a suspect, but the Bantul District Court dismissed the case on Nov. 27, 1997 due to a lack of evidence.
Based on an investigation conducted by a team of Bernas journalists, Udin was strongly believed to have been murdered by individuals involved in a corruption case he was covering in Bantul.
In February of this year, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) presented to police a document listing 26 individuals allegedly involved in the killing of Udin, requesting that the department launch a fresh probe into the unsolved murder.
To date, the police have yet to arrest the murder suspects. Based on the Criminal Code, a case can be closed if police fail to find the perpetrators 18 years after the crime. This has prompted alarm among activists "It's very unwise to close this case without resolution," Erwin said.
Yogyakarta chapter AJI head Hendrawan Setiawan said he strongly rejected the closure of the Udin murder case. "It is unacceptable to consider this [murder] case as expired because the police have not worked on the case," he said.
He added that should the case fail to be resolved in court, it would set a bad precedent for future cases of violence against journalists. "We hope the younger generation who may not have known about the case when it happened will be willing to continue this struggle [to get the case resolved]," he said.
Hendrawan said that the AJI had taken several measures, such as reporting the case to the National Police Commission (KKN), the Presidential Advisory Council, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the United Nations (UN) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), but to no avail.
Separately, KP3KPD activist Unang Shio Peking said his forum would form volunteer groups that would campaign for the resolution of Udin's case in villages.
"We hope the struggle to resolve Udin's case will continue so that the case not only belongs to journalists and activists, but also to the public in general," Unang said.
During an event, Bantul artist Sigit Sugito read a poem entitled "18 years (Ode for Udin)". Activists and Udin family members then visited Udin's grave, which is located close to his parents' home.
On several occasions, the Yogyakarta Provincial Police have reported that they were still working on the case. Yogyakarta Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Anny Pudjiastuti said the police continued to take the case seriously and would follow up on any new leads.
However, the police declined to provide details on the development of the case. Since Udin's death, there have been 15 different Yogyakarta Police chiefs.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/13/activists-demand-resolution-udin-murder-case.html