Amir Syamsuddin quits battle to defend Oki

Amir Syamsuddin quits battle to defend Oki

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers from the Amir Syamsuddin & Partners
announced on Saturday that they were no longer defending Harnoko
Dewantono, alias Oki, the main suspect in a triple murder in Los
Angeles.

Amir Syamsuddin said in a statement made available to The
Jakarta Post that their withdrawal was due to the unfavorable
attitude shown by Oki's father, Hendarno Hendarmin.

"In the three months of our service as Oki's lawyers we have
been faced with a lot of problems. One particular problem came
from Oki's father, who was not pleased with our roles as his
son's lawyers," Amir said.

Giving no information, Amir said both his party and his client
had expected Hendarno to change his mind when he saw how the
company was doing.

"Our efforts apparently didn't change Hendarno's attitude," he
said.

Therefore, after a series of talks, including those with Oki,
"we decided to withdraw as Oki's lawyers," Amir said.

Amir and his colleagues said, however, that they are still
interested in defending Oki.

It is strongly believed that the 30-year-old suspect will now
be defended by lawyers from Ruhut Sitompoel, Tommy Sihotang &
Associates. Oki's father likes them.

Contacted by The Jakarta Post on Saturday, Ruhut commented:
"I'm not surprised with the withdrawal of Amir because I am the
legal lawyer of Oki since the beginning.

"The only difference between me and him is that I was asked by
Oki to defend him, while Amir asked Oki to appoint him as his
lawyer," Ruhut said.

According to Amir, their withdrawal was sent to the suspect,
who is currently being kept at the Cipinang Correctional
Institution in East Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Oki had been one of the most wanted persons in Los Angeles,
the United States, for his alleged role in the killing of an
Indonesian female, his brother and an Indian businessman.

The young suspect is strongly believed to have tortured and
shot the Indian businessman, Suresh Mirchandani, to death in
August 1991. Then he battered to death Gina Sutan Aswar, the
young Indonesian woman, as well as Tri (Eri) Harto Darmawan, his
younger brother, in November 1992.

After being hidden at separate places, the bodies of the three
victims were kept together in a storage locker since May 1993
before being found by the Los Angeles police in August last year.

Oki was apprehended in Indonesia early this year for alleged
passport forgery and was later questioned about the murders.

The dossiers on Oki's alleged role in falsifying passports
will be tried at the South Jakarta district court on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the murder dossiers have yet to be completed
because Indonesian police claim that they are still waiting for
additional information on new evidence found earlier last week by
Los Angeles police detectives.

A lack of material evidence, as required by Indonesian law, is
also hindering the case because some key evidence is still being
held by the Los Angeles police.

American police have reportedly found a car related to the
triple murder case.

Deputy Chief of National Police for Operational Affairs Maj.
Gen. Koesparmono Irsan said on Thursday it isn't yet clear
whether the car was used by Oki or one of the three murder
victims.

"But the car constitutes new evidence in the case,"
Koesparmono said. (bsr)