The revelation that a confessed serial killer captured last month in Jakarta had admitted to being friends with the notorious child-killer Siswanto “Robot” Gedek raised intriguing questions on Wednesday, including whether Gedek had been falsely accused of some of his crimes.

But Rangga Beri Rikuser, the lawyer for the 49-year-old Bayquni, a k a Babe, brushed aside suggestions that his client may have been responsible for some of the murders attributed to Gedek.

“It is true that Babe was friends with Robot Gedek, but they were not close friends,” Rangga said.

Gedek was sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of 12 boys. Bayquni has admitted to sexually abusing, murdering and mutilating 14 street children.

On Wednesday, Usman, a coordinator with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), raised the possibility that Gedek had been falsely convicted.

Usman said legal expert Satjipto Wirosarjono had cast doubt on Gedek’s confession at the time of his trial, saying it was only supported by a single witness and that Gedek was “mentally impaired.”

If he was wrongly convicted “the state is under the obligation to rehabilitate the good name of Robot Gedek and his family,” Usman said.

Gedek died of a heart attack in March 2007 while awaiting execution.

Rangga dismissed speculation that Bayquni might have killed some of the victims attributed to Gedek, who killed and sodomized boys in Jakarta and Central Java between 1994 and 1996.

“There may be a victim, Rio, who has the same name [as one of Bayquni’s victims] but that is just because they shared the same name,” Rangga said.

Rangga also denied reports that his client had testified in court at Gedek’s trial.

“That was not Babe [Bayquni] but another man whose name was also Babe,” he said.

Babe means “father” in the Betawi dialect.

Police on Wednesday said they had extended Bayquni’s detention warrant by another 60 days for further investigation.

“This is to complete the documents of the case,” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said. Bayquni was arrested on Jan. 9.

He is being held at Jakarta Police headquarters.

Haposan Hutagalung, another lawyer representing Bayquni, on Wednesday said his client had been convicted of kidnapping a 9-year-old girl in 1993.

Bayquni committed that crime because he had no children and wanted a child, Haposan said. Bayquni served a two-year prison sentence in that case, he said.

Bayquni used his home in Jakarta as a shelter of sorts for street children.

Survivors of contact with him have said they were shocked to discover that their protector was a killer.