Lawyers plead for set prison sentence for Oki

JAKARTA (JP): Defense lawyers of Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, yesterday demanded that the court sentence their client for a certain period, rather than issue the death penalty, for the murder of two people in Los Angeles in 1991 and 1992.

The lawyers told the Central Jakarta District Court that Oki killed his business partner Gina Sutan Aswar and his younger brother Tri Harto Darmawan alias Eri, but did not kill his Indian business partner, Suresh Mirchandani.

Los Angeles police found bodies in a local warehouse in August 1994. Oki also presented his own defense at the hearing yesterday. Prosecutor J. Kamaru had earlier demanded that the court hand down the death penalty to Oki, 32, for the alleged murder of Gina, Eri and Suresh.

The lawyers said yesterday that Oki had not killed Suresh.

Lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat also stated that the murders were not premeditated, because Oki was drunk.

He killed Gina because she had wanted to resign from their business. Oki became angry, and after they had drunk Chivas Regal, he could not control himself, the lawyer said.

The monkey wrench used to smash Gina had always been kept in the garage, he said. "It was not prepared beforehand."

According to them, the plastic bag and box which were used to package Gina's body had not prepared either, he said.

"They had not been bought earlier, but on the following day," said Henry, reading the 60-page defense statements.

Henry added that Oki killed his brother Eri after they fought. Oki then killed Eri when he was out of control, and under the influence of cocaine.

"There is no testimony that Oki had killed Suresh," lawyer Henry said. Oki was accused of shooting Suresh in his car.

Henry cited the findings of Los Angeles detectives about Suresh's death. He said that Suresh must have been shot from the front by someone other than Oki.

This was because Oki was driving on the left, while dry blood on the upholstery of the back seat showed Suresh had sat in the back seat.

Henry said that Oki's claim that it was Eri who shot the Indian businessman made sense.

Henry was accompanied by three other lawyers, Nurhasyim Ilyas, Tommy Sihotang, and Subiakto Saruddin.

Oki, reading his own five-page rebuttal, denied the accusations based on findings of Suresh's remains. He denied both cutting out Suresh's heart and lung, and slicing his throat. He also denied cutting off Gina's right ear.

"I don't know anything about the damage of Suresh's chest and Gina's ear. All I know that Eri had buried the body," he said without specifying whether or not it was Suresh's or Gina's body.

The lawyers supported Oki's statement that there was no evidence that he carried out the alleged acts. The lawyers also said that the prosecutor had never explained just how the acts were carried out, and what tools were used.

"An expert witness, Abdul Mun'im, has said that the absence of the lung and heart from a corpse more than two years old, is not always caused by cutting out," Henry said. Mun'im, a forensic scientist, has said the organs might have melted.

The lawyer also told the court that their client suffered from a mental disorder.

"According to a witness, Oki has suffered from mental disorders from the time that he was a small child, and that he has been treated by a psychiatrist," he said.

The trial was adjourned until Thursday. (13)