Last Saturday, Yoseph Sairlela was found dead at a hotel in Menteng, Central Jakarta. Yoseph had been a monitor working for the Ministry of Marine Resources and Fisheries and was described as a key witness in the shocking slavery case against Pusaka Benjina Resources.
Initial reports stated that Yoseph’s body had suffered grievous physical injuries, suggesting that he had been beaten to death.
But the report released today by a police forensic pathologist, who did an autopsy on Yoseph’s body, says that was not the case.
The head of the medical and health unit for the Jakarta City Police, Commissioner Musyafak, said his patholigist found no signs of violence on Yoseph’s body. He said the actual cause of death was heart attack.
“It was a natural death due to illness. The forensic doctor found a thrombus [blood clot] in his heart,” Musyafak said on Thursday as quoted by Tribunnews.
We find it extremely odd that initial reports would suggest that Yoseph was found severely beaten, and police are now saying that he had no signs of physical violence on his body. Legally we shouldn’t speculate about what happened, but feel free to do so yourselves.
