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)