A man died in detention in the Muna Polres Headquarters in South Sulawesi

A 45-year-old man named Amis Ando died after being detained at the Muna Resort Police (Polres) Headquarters for 12 hours. He was arrested and detained on 3 May 2022 at 8 pm because he was caught possessing a knife while drunk in a resident’s house. He was found dead on 4 May 2022. There were strong indications that Amis Ando had been tortured. There were signs of violence on several parts of his body.  

Police argumentation building  

Muna Police Chief AKBP Mulkaifin, on 6 May 2022 or two days after Amis Ando was found dead, said that Amis had slept in the picket room when he was detained. Amis, who woke up, then shouted and rebelled while kicking the room door and the table and making noise on Wednesday, 4 May 2022, at 01.00 am. However, Amis was severely intoxicated, so the members did not take action to calm him down. On Wednesday morning at around 5:00 am, the victim defecated in his pants. The police immediately contacted Amis Ando’s wife to visit Muna Police Headquarters. The officer asked the victim’s wife to help clean up Amis Ando’s faeces. However, according to the Police Chief, the victim’s wife did not want to come and only left her husband’s clothes with the Criminal Investigation Unit. Because his wife did not visit her husband, the victim cleaned himself in the bathroom. After that, the victim rested back in the room, but not long after, Amis Ando complained of dizziness and unconsciousness. Amis Ando was taken to the hospital by the guard. After being examined and taking several medical measures, the hospital declared Amis dead at 8:30 am. He argued that based on the results of the doctor’s examination, there were no signs of violence on Amis’ body. He said, “We will send to the laboratory samples of the victim’s blood taken by the doctor, his saliva and stool that are thought to contain chemical substances for further examination.” 

First, information to the family 

After Amis was detained for 12 hours, the family received news that Ando died on the way to Muna Regional Hospital on 4 May 2022 at around 08.00 am. A doctor at the Regional General Hospital (RSUD) of Muna Regency, Dr Bainuddin, said that the victim was already dead when he was brought to the hospital. But the cause of death is unknown; he said we would submit the post-mortem results to the police. 

Family reaction  

They found signs of violence on Ando’s body. The wounds were discovered when the body was being washed before burial.   

  • There were bruises on the back, ears, neck, and chest, then foam from the mouth. 
  • There was blood coming out of the deceased’s ear.   
  • There were blackened abrasions on Amis Ando’s right and left wrists; 
  • The police did not show the clothes used when Ando was arrested. The police only showed the victim’s pants and jacket. They did not give the victim’s shirt and underwear. The police said the shirt and underwear were in the bathroom, very dirty. But when his wife checked in the bathroom, they were not there. 

The family finally documented the evidence of signs of violence to confirm Amis Ando’s death. The results of a quick post-mortem from the Muna Regency Hospital also proved this. The visum et repertum showed that the wrist had a wound 2 centimetres long and 1 centimetre wide. The post-mortem also recorded bruises on the back of Amis Ando’s body. 

On Friday, 6 May 2022, many families came to the Muna Police Headquarters (Mapolres Muna) Jl Bypass, Raha 1 District, Muna Regency, Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra). They asked the police to take responsibility for the detainee’s death, Amis Ando. The victim’s brother, Nisam Ando, urged Propam to examine several police officers who made the arrest.  

The Head of the Propane Section of Muna Police, Southeast Sulawesi, Ipda Ashari, on Wednesday, only gave normative comments. He said that his office had summoned the officers who handled the case and conducted an examination. If his party finds procedural errors, it will be processed. 

Family urges police to reveal autopsy results. 

On 7 May 2022, an independent forensic expert doctor from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Halu Oleo (UHO) Kendari, Dr Raja Alfatih Widya Iswara, said that the samples would first be sent to Makassar and the results would come out in two to three weeks.  

The autopsy was carried out because the family suspected that there were irregularities in the death of the deceased Amis, so they asked the Muna Police to carry out an autopsy to find out the cause of the deceased’s death. UHO Kendari’s team of independent forensic doctors conducted an autopsy on 7 May 2022 with a physical examination, dissected the body and examined internal organs such as the lungs, heart, kidneys, stomach, and others. Dr Raja said that samples from the autopsy of the deceased Amis would be sent to the forensic laboratory in Makassar, South Sulawesi, for testing, where the results will be submitted to investigators. The process of exhuming the grave and autopsying the deceased’s body lasted for approximately four hours, starting at 1 pm. The victim’s body was reburied at around 5:40 pm. 

On 16 June 2022, Amis Ando’s family rallied in front of Muna Police Station. They demanded that the Muna Police officially release the autopsy results of Amsi Ando’s body samples.  It’s been over a month since the autopsy, and the cause of death has yet to be determined. Based on information from forensic doctors, the autopsy results have been out since 6 June and have been submitted by Muna Police investigators.  

To the family, the forensic doctor, Dr Raja Alfatih Widya Iswara, on 10 June 2022, said that the results of the sample examination did not find signs of overdose due to drugs as rumoured. Meanwhile, there are signs of violence based on the pathological analysis of cervical bone samples (trachea).  

Meanwhile, Muna Police Chief AKBP Mulkaifin, through Deputy Chief of Police Kompol A. Siahan, has not been able to provide further information about the protesters’ demands. It is because the autopsy results have yet to reach the Muna Police. He admitted that until 16 June 2022, his party had not received the autopsy results. He also said that the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police had taken over this case. 

Undue Delau by Police 

Muna Police initially handled this case. But then it was transferred to the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police. Kompol Tiswan, Head of Subbid Penmas Humas of Southeast Sulawesi Police, on 7 June 2022 confirmed that Subdit III Jatanras of the Directorate of Investigation of Southeast Sulawesi Police had handled Amis Ando’s case. Until that day, he admitted that his party had examined several witnesses who were members or police personnel. Eight people have been examined, and all are Muna Police personnel. But until now, there has been no further information regarding the development of the law enforcement process of the Amis Ando torture case. 

Kompol Head of the Penmas sub-field of Public Relations of the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police, Kompol Tiswan, on 17 June 2022 confirmed that the case of the death of detainees at the Muna Police is now being handled by the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police, precisely by Subdit III Jatanras of the Directorate of General Investigation and Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimum) of the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police. 

Detailed Case Data
name of the location: Muna Polres (-4.676433792993791, 123.20102283474117)   administrative region: Indonesia, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Muna Regency, Raha City
total number of victims: 1
period of incident: 04.05.2022
perpetrator: police
perpetrator details: Muna Polres
Issues: torture, ill-treatment, execution
Sources: 
Further HRM News:

NumberName, DetailsGenderAgeGroup AffiliationViolation
1Amis Ando, detaineemale5unknown torture, execution