Oki to appeal for clemency over death sentence

JAKARTA (JP): Convicted murderer Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, 35, plans to seek clemency from the President, after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence imposed on him by the Jakarta High Court in 1997, following his conviction for three murders committed in the United States between 1991 and 1992, a court official said.

"One of Oki's lawyers spoke with me and said that Oki would soon forward a written appeal for clemency to President Abdurrahman Wahid. He feels it is his only hope," the court's chief clerk for criminal cases, Darwin, told reporters on Thursday.

He said the defendant had 30 days from the date of receipt of the written copy of the Supreme Court's verdict, to decide whether he wanted to appeal for clemency or not.

The defendant received a copy of the verdict on Oct. 4.

"The death sentence cannot be carried out by the court within the period of 30 days counting from the day on which the defendant received the written copy of the verdict," Darwin said, citing the 1950 Amnesty Law.

"If the defendant chooses the clemency option, he must forward a request within this period of 30 days to the clerk of the district court, which imposed the death sentence".

The formal request for clemency, Darwin said, is then immediately forwarded to the President, the District Court President, and the Attorney General's Office.

"The death sentence cannot be carried out until the Presidential Decree (on the acceptance or rejection of the request for clemency), has been received by the Attorney General," he said.

The Supreme Court hearing which upheld the death sentence was presided over by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sarwata.

"The written decision, 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 own 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 scientist 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.

The body also had a bullet hole in it, but Abdul Mun'im said that it could not be determined from which direction the shot was fired.

The high court bench, presided over by Soetarmiati, upheld the trial court's verdict in October 1997. (ylt)