Oki prefers to demand review of case

JAKARTA (JP): Convicted murderer Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, 35, has changed his mind about seeking clemency from the President and prefers to demand a review of his case, after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence imposed on him by the Jakarta High Court in 1997, an official said on Friday.

Supreme Court Director for Criminal Cases, Djoko Sarwoko, said that if Oki requested for a review of the case, it became the duty of the prosecutors to request the President not to issue the permit for implementation of Oki's death sentence.

"Prosecutors should officially ask the President to wait until the verdict for the case review has been issued, by the Supreme Court," Djoko told The Jakarta Post.

Central Jakarta District Court chief of court clerks Darwin Siregar separately said on Friday that unlike the proposal for clemency, a review of a case did not postpone the implementation of the (death sentence) verdict.

"The problem arises if Oki is already executed, and the verdict of the case reviewed by the Supreme Court states a sentence of life imprisonment. Then what happens?" Darwin asked.

Darwin was speaking in reference to Article 268 of Criminal Procedures on proposal of a review of a case.

Oki was convicted by the Supreme Court this year for triple murders committed in the United States between 1991 and 1992.

Darwin added that Oki was sure he wanted his case reviewed, and even drove away his present lawyers with his change of decision.

He added that he knew there was no time limit for proposing a review of the case according to existing regulations, but that he himself and his subordinates were frustrated over Oki's erratic decisions.

"He treats this like a joke. First he said clemency, now he says review of the case. A few days ago his mother came, and tried filing a proposal to seek clemency from the President, for Oki.

As reported earlier, the convict received a copy of the Supreme Court verdict on Oct. 4.

"The verdict, issued on June 29 this year, held that Oki had been proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt of having violated Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder," a court official, Heri, had said earlier.

The district court sentenced Oki to death on May 13, 1997, after he was found guilty of murdering his Indian business partner, Suresh Mirchandani, an Indonesian business partner, Gina Sutan Aswar, and Oki's younger brother, Tri Harto Darmawan, alias Eri, in Los Angeles, California, between 1991 and 1992.

The bodies of the three victims were found in August 1994 in a warehouse locker at a U-Haul Storage facility in Los Angeles.

The locker had been abandoned for months.

During the 1997 trial, forensic expert Abdul Mun'im Idris cited the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) forensic reports which showed that Mirchandani had had his chest cut open and his lungs and heart taken out while he was still alive. (ylt)