Oki trial vanue not yet decided: Surjono

Oki trial vanue not yet decided: Surjono

JAKARTA (JP): Just where the Los Angeles triple murder case
will be heard is yet to be decided and will depend on the
findings of Jakarta police's current investigation, Chief Justice
Surjono said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters after the opening of the Supreme Court
national working meeting at the Presidential Palace, Surjono said
the court has no involvement in the matter at the moment because
police are still investigating the case, in which 30-year-old
Indonesian citizen Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, is the main
suspect.

"Whether it is going to be tried here in Indonesia or in the
United States will depend on the police's final findings," he
said. "But our existing law allows the case to heard by a court
here," he added.

Oki, arrested on Jan. 7 in Central Jakarta in connection with
allegations of passport forgery, is currently being questioned by
police for his alleged role in the murder of Gina Sutan Aswar, a
young Indonesian woman, Oki's own brother Tri Harto Darmawan
known as Eri, and Suresh Michandani, Oki's business partner of
Indian origins.

The three victims are believed to have been murdered between
1991 and 1994 in different parts of Los Angeles. Their decayed
bodies were found in August last year in an old storage locker
and were identified last month.

Tentative investigations have indicated that money was the
motive for the murder.

Although an arrest warrant has been issued by the Los Angeles
Police Department, a number of senior Indonesian police officers
have insisted that the suspect, who is an Indonesian citizen,
must be tried in Indonesia.

"There's no consensus (with Washington) in this matter. Oki
has to be tried here," said the Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen.
Hindarto early this week.

Head of the Crime Investigation Directorate of the National
Police, Brig. Gen. Rusdiardjo said: "There is no nation in this
world that does not want to protect its citizens, and all the
nations on this planet have already agreed to fight against
crime."

"Let the suspect to be tried here", he said on Tuesday. He
guaranteed that Oki, if guilty, would also face a tough penalty
in Indonesia. (bsr)