Cutting remarks from prosecutor in murder case

Cutting remarks from prosecutor in murder case

JAKARTA (JP): The prosecutor in the case of the decapitated
doctor told the North Jakarta District Court to reject the
defense statement of lawyer Bambang Hartono and asked the court
to sentence the accused to 10 years in prison.

Prosecutor Omsin Subarkah said in a trial session yesterday
that he will maintain his earlier request that Ridwan Surya
Dhanu, the secret lover of the victim, be jailed to 10 years for
his role in persuading another man to commit a murder.

The prosecutor said that his argument is based on the court
examination which proved that Ridwan is the one who asked Goenadi
Tjahjo Wargo to kill Dr. Riyama Yawoga for Rp 120 million
(US$55,248).

Dr. Riyama was found dead in her bedroom on Jan. 14 with her
head nearly severed from her body.

Ridwan, 48, allegedly asked Goenadi to kill Riyama to end her
demands for marriage and to write off a Rp 200 million loan that
the doctor extended to him. Ridwan has two wives while Riyama was
a divorcee with two grown-up children.

Representing Ridwan, lawyer Bambang Hartono said earlier that
his client gave Goenadi Rp 20 million merely as a loan. Later on,
it was Goenadi who coerced him to pay another Rp 100 million with
the threat that Ridwan and his family would be murdered if he
failed to pay.

Omsin dismissed the lawyer's theory, however, saying that the
sequence of events between the murder and the surrender of most
of the money justifies the assumption that Ridwan did not lend
the money to Goenadi as stated. According to Omsin, these events
show that he gave the money as payment for a service, which is
murder.

Ridwan gave money to Goenadi on two separate occasions. The
first time was on Dec. 21 of last year, when he handed over Rp 20
million. The second time was on Jan. 15, 1994, when he gave
Goenadi Rp 100 million, the day after the general practitioner
was found dead.

Responding to Omsin's assumption, lawyer Bambang said that it
was impossible that Ridwan arranged the murder just to escape the
doctor's demands for marriage or to free himself from the loan.

"He has two wives now and he is not a poor man. Rp 200 million
is nothing for him, so why should would he bother to ask a man to
do a job which could be done at lower cost," he told The Jakarta
Post after the court session.

Ridwan, an ethnic Chinese, is a former banker of a bankrupted
bank, Bank Umum Majapahit -- a bank where the doctor was
registered as a client. As the bank collapsed in 1991, his
relationship with Riyama developed into a love affair.

Presiding Judge Thomas Suyatno adjourned the trial session
until Sept. 1, when the defendant's lawyer is scheduled to reply
to the prosecutor's statements. (03)