Court acquits defendant of murder charge

Court acquits defendant of murder charge

JAKARTA (JP): The North Jakarta District Court has acquitted
defendant Ridwan Surya Dhanu of the charge of murdering his
clandestine lover in January.

"The court decided that defendant Ridwan must be acquitted
from all charges because there is no strong evidence which
indicated that he is the man behind the killing of Dr. Riyama
Yawoga," said presiding judge Soemarjono yesterday.

Judge Soemarjono, who also is the head of the District Court,
said that the prosecutor's indictment could not be proven.

Prosecutor Omsin Subarkah, who was asking the court to
sentence Ridwan to 10 years in prison, said that he will use his
legal right of 14 days to decide whether or not he will file an
appeal to the Jakarta High Court.

The prosecutor said earlier that his request to sentence
Ridwan to 10 years imprisonment is based on the court examination
which proved Ridwan as the one who asked Goenadi Tjahjo Wargo to
kill Dr. Riyama Yawoga with a reward of Rp 120 million
(US$55,248).

According to Goenadi's testimony, Ridwan gave the money to him
in two payments. He first gave Rp 20 million on Dec. 21 last
year, and the remaining Rp 100 million on Jan. 15, a day after
the general practitioner was found dead with her head nearly
severed.

Prosecutor Omsin has said that Ridwan, 48, allegedly asked
Goenadi to kill Riyama not only to end her demand of marriage,
but also to eliminate the Rp 200 million loan that the doctor
extended him. Ridwan is currently twice married, while Riyama was
a divorcee with two grown-up children.

It seems that Omsin's theory served to convince Judge Surti
Hari Pramono, who decided to sentence Goenadi to 18 years in jail
on Sept. 14.

Ridwan's lawyer, Bambang Hartono, could not hide his
excitement as he said that the judges have shown their ability
and courage to dispense justice.

"Now we are planning to sue the police for committing unlawful
arrest and interrogations," he said.

The lawyer said that the police had interrogated his client
six times without the presence of his lawyer, and it was also the
police who forced Ridwan to make written confessions stating that
he was the man who ordered Goenadi to kill the doctor.

Bambang said it was impossible that Ridwan had killed the
doctor just to reject her demand for marriage or to free himself
from the loan.

Ridwan, an ethnic Chinese, is a former banker employee of the
now defunct Bank Umum Majapahit, a bank where the doctor was
registered as a client. As the bank went bankrupt in 1991, his
relationship with Riyama blossomed into a love affair.(03)