Photos enough to bring Oki to court: Police
Photos enough to bring Oki to court: Police
JAKARTA (JP): Police said yesterday they have several photos which are enough evidence to bring Hernoko Dewantono, alias Oki, to court as the main suspect in the Los Angeles triple murders.
"We already have, for example, the photo of a hammer (used by the suspect to kill one of the victims)," head of the National Police Crime Investigation Directorate Brig. Gen. Rusdiardjo told reporters yesterday.
"We'll take more pictures if the Los Angeles police refuse to lend us the material evidence they have on hand," he added.
The photos will be approved and sealed at the Indonesian consulate general in Los Angeles before being used as material evidence for the trial here, the one-star general said.
As earlier reported, a number of senior Jakarta police detectives flew to Los Angeles to collect available material evidence and question a number of witnesses in a bid to compare testimonies made by Oki during questioning in Jakarta.
Oki is believed to be the only player in the killing of Gina Sutan Aswar, an Indonesian woman, Oki's brother Tri Harto Darmawan, known as Eri, and Suresh Michandani of Indian origin in Los Angeles.
Oki was arrested in Jakarta on Jan. 7 on the allegation of passport forgery and has since been questioned for his alleged role in the killings.
Since questioning Oki, police have given no hints as to the motive behind the killing, but reliable sources believe the murders were mainly due to business reasons as Gina and Michandani were Oki's business partners.
During their visit to Los Angeles, the team of city police are trying to convince the United States to allow the case to be tried in the Indonesian courts.
As of yesterday, there has been no consensus despite Jakarta insisting Oki be tried here.
According to Rusdiardjo, the case could also be tried in Los Angeles "but at the Indonesian consulate general's office and based on Indonesian law.
Thus, he said, "the judges and prosecutors should also be Indonesian".
But he, as well as many other Indonesian officers, highly hope the case will be tried in Jakarta as allowed by existing Indonesian law.
Rusdiardjo guaranteed that Oki, like any other criminal, will be punished appropriately.
"He deserves apt punishment," he said. (bsr)