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)