Court agrees to extradite American to RP
Court agrees to extradite American to RP
JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court accepted on
Tuesday a request from the government of the Republic of the
Philippines to extradite United States citizen Dennis Austin
Standefer to the neighboring country over an alleged criminal
offense.
Judge Romana Pardede said Standefer had been indicted for rape
in a Philippine court.
"According to Article 32 of the 1979 Law on Extradition, a
suspect in a felony, including a rape case, can be deported to
the country requesting extradition," she said in a hearing at the
district court.
Standefer was charged early this year for allegedly raping a
teenager in November 1994.
Romana said the court agreed to extradite the suspect as the
alleged wrongdoing occurred in 1994 and had therefore not
exceeded the statute of limitations.
"Article 78 of the Criminal Code Procedures stipulates that
the time limitation on the prosecution of a rape case is 12
years," she said.
Prosecutor Madju Ambarita said in the previous hearing that
Standefer's extradition was sought by Interpol on behalf of the
Philippines early this year.
"The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office received the request on Jan.
22," he said.
The prosecutor said Standefer had been arrested in August last
year at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for overstaying his
visa.
The Indonesian police coordinated with Interpol since last
September over the possibility of extraditing Standefer to the
Philippines. A formal request for his extradition was later made
to the National Police.
Earlier, Standefer, through a translator, asked the judges to
adjourn the hearing, citing an eye problem as the reason for the
request.
"I have diabetes which causes me trouble with sight in my left
eye," he told the hearing.
Romana rejected the request, saying an adjournment on health
reasons required a letter from a doctor.
"Besides, Standefer can still participate in court proceedings
and talk to the judge, lawyers and prosecutor," she said.
Standefer insisted that he was not guilty, saying that both he
and the woman had agreed to live together as husband and wife. He
said the woman was his fiancee.
The judge responded by saying that the court was not examining
the substance of the case.
"It has nothing to do with the case. We will only decide on
the Philippine government's request for extradition," she said.
After the hearing, the same judge examined another extradition
request, also filed by the government of the Republic of the
Philippines concerning a German national, Klaus Ernst Heinrich
Gottschalk, 47, who was indicted in the Philippines for alleged
illegal possession of firearms, gun components and ammunition.
In the indictment dated Jan. 31, prosecutor Emmanuel E.
Velasco accused Klaus of violating Republic Act No. 8294 and
Article 212 of the Philippines Revised Penal Code.
The hearing heard testimonies of two witnesses, Lt. Col.
Desman Sinaga and Maj. Bahri of the National Police.
Desman said Klaus entered Indonesia last year after a
successful escape from the Philippines.
The judge adjourned the hearing until next week to announce
the verdict. (asa)