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)