Police question Oki over LA triple murder

Police question Oki over LA triple murder

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Police expanded their interrogation
yesterday of Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, over the Los Angeles
triple murder.

Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto told
reporters that the investigation, which had been confined to
allegations of passport forgery, had now been expanded to include
the murders.

Oki, 30, is wanted by the Los Angeles police in connection
with the murders of a young Indonesian woman, Gina Sutan Aswar,
his brother Eri Tri Harto Darmawan, and an Indian businessmen.

Their decomposed bodies were found in a storage locker in
August and only identified in December. The Los Angeles Police
Department issued a warrant for Oki's arrest, saying he was their
main suspect.

Hindarto said the Jakarta Police want to ask everyone that
could shed some light on the murder to come forward. Those who
had already given statements to the Los Angeles police will be
asked to confirm their statements.

The police have written to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
to send over documents to help with the murder investigation.

Two American detectives are expected to come to Jakarta this
week to assist in the investigation amidst increasing signals
that the Indonesian authorities will insist that Oki be tried in
Jakarta.

Indonesia and the United States have no extradition treaty.

Earlier, Gina's family asked for Oki to be handed over to the
United States to face the charge, given that the Americans had
already conducted most of the investigation.

After Gina's funeral on Friday, her brother, Syaiful Aswar,
said that the family did not mind where Oki was tried as long as
justice was done.

The Attorney General's Office had confirmed that the law
permits an Indonesian court to try a citizen for a crime
allegedly committed overseas.

Hindarto declined to say if Oki has denied or confessed to the
murder charge. "We're searching not only for confessions, but
material evidence as well," he said.

Los Angeles police say they have reason to believe that Oki
was the last person to see Gina. To support this, they have a
video from a short circuit camera showing Oki with Gina when the
two were at the Los Angeles airport.

Gina was reported missing by her family on Nov. 2, 1992. She
was last heard from when she boarded a flight a day earlier in
Paris on her way to Los Angeles where Oki was supposed to have
met her.

Gina's family questioned why the Jakarta Police were adamant
to conduct the investigation when their Los Angeles counterparts
had already done most of the work.

But Col. Nurfaizi, head of the Jakarta Police Criminal
Investigation, said he did not see any problem in starting a new
investigation although it could mean sending officers to the
United States.

Nurfaizi said the decision was based purely on legal principle
and that the Jakarta Police have no interests in defending Oki,
if he is indeed guilty of murder.

"We're pursuing this case seriously," he said.

Whether Oki is tried in Jakarta or Los Angeles, he could face
the death penalty if found guilty under either country's legal
system, although the American law appears to be the harsher,
legal experts state.

"If you were the suspect, what would you prefer: the electric
chair or a firing squad?" a senior police officer, who requested
anonymity, queried. He was referring to the execution methods in
the United States and Indonesia respectively. (bsr)