INDONESIA: Innocent man allegedly arrested over false charges after illegal investigation process

Dear friends,

The AHRC has received information from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), that a man has been arbitrarily arrested and tortured while being interrogated on false charges.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information received from the Commission for The Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Mr. Aan was interrogated by police officers from Maluku
district on 7 December regarding a drug case implicating Mr. Aan’s former employer at PT Maritim Timor Jaya, Mr. David Tjoe. They did not interrogate him in the police station, but in the Artha Graha commercial office Building, Jakarta, Mr. Aan’s former place of employment.

On 14 December, Mr. Aan was interrogated again in the same building as a witness by the high commissioner of the police (Kombes) Johny Siahaan and two police officers from the criminal investigation unit (reserse dan kriminal), all from the Maluku district police office, this time in a case regarding illegal gun possession, once again implicating Mr. Tjoe.

While being interrogated, Mr. Aan was severely beaten up by Mr. Victor B. Laiskodat, who also works at the PT Maritim Timor Jaya, and who is chairman of the Artha Graha Building. Neither the high commissioner of the police, nor the police officers who were there did anything to prevent the torture. This amounts to torture, as defined in the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, article 1, since the violence happened with the consent of public officials.

It must be noted that Mr. Laiskodat is close to Mr. Tommy Winata, owner of the Artha Graha Building. Mr. Winata is a rich and influential man who allegedly donates money to the police, through legal or illegal ways. It can therefore be alleged that this case of torture is based on a corruption background.

The police then subjected Mr. Aan to humiliating treatment. He was forced to undress and was subjected to a thorough search. The police, claiming that they found amphetamines powder in his clothes, arrested Mr. Aan.

At 1.30 am, on 15 December, he was brought to the Jakarta Metropolitan police office. There, he was denied the right to see a doctor or a lawyer and was interrogated again. The police conducted a urine test for drugs, the result of which was negative. Mr. Aan was nevertheless convicted of drug possession and arrested.

Mr. Aan is now detained in the Cipinang public prison, Jakarta. It is believed that he has been accused and jailed in that drug case, only to force him to testify in the gun case implying Mr. Tjoe.

ADDITIONAL COMMENT:

This case displays the common police misconduct in Indonesia. The legal process of investigation was not respected in many aspects. First, the interrogation took place outside the police office, which is against the Indonesian Code of Criminal Procedure (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Acara Pidana,KUHAP, in Indonesian). Then, Mr. Aan was beat up in presence of the police officers, supposedly with their consent, as they did not intervene to stop the violence. Mr. Laiskodat and the police officers could thus be accused of torturing Mr. Aan. They also subjected him to degrading treatment. Finally, they interrogated him in the police office without a lawyer, which contravenes articles 54 and 56(1) of the KUHAP, which states that the right to legal aid lasts throughout the whole proceedings whenever the defendant is interrogated, from the beginning of the preliminary examination by the police interrogator to the trial, and at every stage.
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It is also particularly worrying that Mr. Laiskodat might have beaten up Mr. Aan with the police consent because of his relation to a man who allegedly corrupted the police. The Indonesian police have recently made efforts to improve its procedures and behavior. It is thus very important to look into these corruption allegations.

Finally, according to KontraS, it is likely that the police fabricated charges against Mr. Aan in order to pressure him to testify in another case.

Mr. Aan must be released from the Cipinang public prison as there is no proof that he had drugs, except for the claim of the police. The persons who violated the law and his rights ?that is, Mr. Laiskodat and the police officers ?must be investigated and prosecuted, then fairly punished. The police officers must be prosecuted for violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure for not respecting the legal conduct of an investigation and under the Police Regulation No.8/2009 and Criminal Code for the violence against Mr. Aan. They are allegedly responsible for Mr. Aan’s torture under the Convention against Torture. Mr. Laiskodat should be prosecuted and punished for the violence conducted against Mr. Aan. An investigation should also be conducted to find out the ins and outs of the event, notably if the police officers were bribed to let Mr. Laiskodat beat up Mr. Aan.

Legal Actions already conducted by KontraS and Mr. Aan’s wife:

?December 18 2009: A complaint to the Mobile Investigation (Resmob) regarding violence conducted by Mr. Victor Laiskodat against Mr. Aan was filed. No investigation has started yet.
?December 29 2009: A complaint was filed to the internal security unit (Propam) of the police headquarter. An investigation is being conducted against three police officers of the Maluku police district and two police officers of the Jakarta Metropolitan police.
?December 30 2009: A complaint was filed to the National Police Commission (Kompolnas)
?January 10 2010: A complaint was filed to the Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) of the police headquarter regarding illegal detention and abuse of power by the police officers from Maluku
?January 14 2010: A complaint was filed to the Satuan Tugas (Satgas) for “mafia law? that is, corruption of the judicial process.
?January 20 2010: A complaint was filed to the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM)

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Indonesian authorities listed below calling for the release of Mr. Aan and the investigation of the case and prosecution of Mr. Laiskodat and the police officers. The National Police Commission must also investigate the violence conducted by the police and Satgas must look into the alleged corruption case.?

Please note that the Asian Human Rights Commission has written separate letters to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture of the United Nations requesting them to intervene into this case.

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER