Oki's forgery acusation cannot be proved: Lawyers
Oki's forgery acusation cannot be proved: Lawyers
JAKARTA (JP): The lawyers defending Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, demanded yesterday that all charges of passport forgery against their client be dropped.
"The accusation concerning the use of fake passport documents cannot be proved, and neither can the other charges," Tommy Sihotang, one of Oki's lawyers, said in a defense statement made at the South Jakarta District Court.
Tommy said that the prosecution's demand for five years imprisonment for his client was not based on facts nor valid arguments. "So, we demand that the judge drop all charges against the defendant."
Last week prosecutor AM Gassing demanded that presiding judge Doris A.A. Taulo sentence Oki to five years in prison on the basis of three charges, which the prosecutor said had been justified.
The three charges are the use of fake passports, provision of inaccurate data, or wrong information, and the use of more than one passport.
Oki was accused of using four passports since July 1988. His first passport, No. A-406713 in the name of Harnoko Dewantono Hendarno, was issued on July 21, 1988, and was valid until July 21, 1990. It was renewed on June 20, 1994.
The second passport, No. B-262816 in the name of Harnoko Dewantono, was issued on Aug. 15, 1989, and valid until Aug. 15, 1995.
The third passport, No. B-646264 in the name of Oki Harnoko, was issued on July 1, 1991, and valid until July 1, 1997. And the last passport he used was, No.D-312539 in the name of his brother Eri Triharto Darmawan.
Oki's lawyers rejected the charges on the grounds that his passports were issued legally by the South Jakarta Immigration Office.
The defense lawyers also said the charges of provision of inaccurate data, or wrong information, about Oki's background was also baseless because the name Harnoko Dewantoro was in accordance with his birth certificate, while the name Oki Harnoko matched his education certificate.
The lawyers also objected to the third charge concerning the possession of more than one passport, because they were not used in the same period of time.
After getting the second passport, the lawyers said, Oki did not use his first passport anymore, although he was still holding it. He used the third passport after the second one was lost.
Oki used his brother's passport because his own was taken by his mother-in-law, when he had to return to Jakarta from the United States to see his pregnant wife. (29)