Indonesia’s Widodo urges ‘transparent’ probe as police aide’s murder rocks faith in force
- General Ferdy Sambo has been named as a suspect in the killing of his aide and trying to cover it up with a fake shoot-out involving another officer
- President Widodo, under pressure over the country’s cost of living crisis, ordered police chief to hurry the investigation but ‘not hide anything from the public’
A high-ranking Indonesian police officer has been charged with murdering his aide and covering up the crime in a month-long case that has attracted significant attention from the public and the deep concern of President Joko Widodo.
Police chief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, on Tuesday said the now-former Internal Affairs Chief Inspector General Ferdy Sambo had been named as a suspect in the murder of Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat. Police initially declared his death to be the result of a shoot-out with Richard Eliezer, another aide, at Ferdy’s house in south Jakarta.
On Tuesday, the police disregarded that claim, saying that Ferdy – the youngest two-star general in the force’s history – could have masterminded the killing of Yosua and its cover-up attempts.
Following a further investigation of materials including CCTV footage and phone records, it was concluded that “there was no shoot-out during the day of the incident, as per our initial report”, Listyo said.
“The shooting of Yosua was carried out by Eliezer on the orders of Ferdy Sambo. The special investigative team this morning has named Ferdy Sambo as a suspect,” he added.
In addition to Eliezer and Ferdy, the police named two other officers as suspects – Brigadier Ricky Rizal, an aide de camp and driver to Ferdy’s wife, and another man identified only as KM. Police said both men helped Eliezer kill the victim.