Jakarta asks LAPD for evidence in Oki's case
Jakarta asks LAPD for evidence in Oki's case
JAKARTA (JP): City Police are urging the Los Angeles Police
Department to relinquish vital material evidence relating
to three murders in Los Angeles.
"If they refuse to hand the evidence over, they can at least
let us borrow it," City Police Chief Brig. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said
on Saturday.
According to Dibyo, the goodwill of the Los Angeles Police
Department (LAPD) is badly needed by the Jakarta police in order
to enable them to meet the prerequisites in handing the dossiers
over to the local prosecutor's office.
In investigating the alleged role of Harnoko Dewantono, alias
Oki, 30, in the killing of three people in Los Angeles, city
police detectives previously claimed they had adequate evidence
in the form of documents and photographs of the original
evidence, such as photos of a gun and hammer.
The Jakarta detectives believed the prosecutors would accept
the dossiers they compiled on the case.
Dibyo's remark, however, gave strong indication that the
prosecutors want the dossiers to be accompanied by the original
evidence, not photos.
Oki, an Indonesian, is the prime suspect in the killing of two
Indonesians, including his younger brother, and a man of Indian
descent in Los Angeles. He was arrested here early last month on
allegations of passport forgery and was later interrogated in
connection with his alleged role in the murders.
The LAPD has sent two detectives to Jakarta to further study
the case. The U.S. government has also formally asked Jakarta to
extradite the suspect but as yet there has been no response from
the Indonesian government.
A proposed meeting between Dibyo and the two detectives on
Saturday was suddenly canceled due to the "inappropriate time of
the visiting detectives", who are questioning the suspect with
the help of local police detectives.
During a break, Ted Ball, one of the LAPD detectives, told
reporters that their work isn't done yet.
"It's still going on," he said and rushed to his car. (bsr)