Farouk Arnaz – National Police chief Cmr. Gen. Sutarman said the investigation into the murder case of Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin (Udin), a journalist who worked for the Bernas newspaper in Yogyakarta, had been flawed from the start.

"To be honest, Udin's case was wrong from the beginning. The crime scene investigation evidence was thrown into the sea in order to make the perpetrator confess. This is insane," Sutarman said.

He said he would reveal and reopen the case if he had at least two pieces of evidence. "I already traced the case when I was the chief of detectives. But apparently the pieces of evidence were thrown in the sea," he said.

Udin, who frequently wrote articles critical of the Suharto government, is thought to have been murdered for writing a report about alleged budget irregularities, which involved then Bantul district head Sri Roso Sudarmo, who was a colonel in the Indonesian Military.

The police named Dwi Sumadji as a suspect in the case for premeditated murder. Dwi was tried at the court but later acquitted. The indictment said Dwi murdered 32-year-old Udin out of revenge because Udin had been having an affair with his wife, Tri Sumaryani.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said it would take part in investigating the case.

Komnas HAM commissioner Natalius Pigai said the organization will push the Yogyakarta Police to immediately solve the case and reveal the mastermind in the murder, adding that Udin's family and the public in general wanted the police to solve the case.

"There's also a possibility that Komnas HAM could become the court's partner. We are concerned about the murder of Udin because it was a national tragedy," he said.

Meanwhile, reporters from various organizations are planning to take the Yogyakarta Police to a pre-trial hearing unless they are able to solve Udin's case before the end of the year. Six lawyers will represent the reporters in the Udin case.

"Our lawsuit is an effort to push the Sleman District Court to get the Yogyakarta Police to continue the investigation into Udin's case.

"But if the Yogyakarta Police aren't able to move the case forward, it should issue a letter to halt the investigation," one of the lawyers, Ramdlon Naning, said in front of the Sleman District Court.

Indonesia Press Association (PWI) chairman for Yogyakarta branch Sihono HT said his organization would continue to push the police to solve the case because it was convinced the murder was not related to an affair but more to the stories he wrote about the alleged graft in the district.

Udin was attacked by unknown assailants on Aug. 13, 1996 and died three days later. The Alliance of Independent Journalists claims eight journalists were murdered between 1996 and 2010 including Udin.