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)