Sat, 03 Sep 1994

Prosecutor's statement exaggeration : lawyer

The defense lawyer in the Riyama murder case has said that the sentence requested by prosecutor Omsin Subarkah is exaggerated and is based on inaccuracies.

Prosecutor Omsin Subarkah has requested an 18 year jail sentence for Goenadi Tjahjo Wargo.

The defense lawyer urged the presiding judge not to sentence his client because he did not kill Dr. Riyama Yawoga as accused by the prosecutor, but had only committed perjury, said lawyer Alamsyah Hanafiah at the North Jakarta District Court yesterday.

Goenadi was accused of killing Dr. Riyama who was found dead in her bedroom on Jan. 14 with her head nearly severed from her body. She was a mother of two children and had divorced her husband to marry Ridwan Surya Dhanu, her clandestine lover, a man who already had two wives.

Ridwan allegedly asked Goenadi to kill Riyama not only to end her demands of marriage but also to eliminate a Rp 200 million loan which the doctor had extended to him. Ridwan is now being tried by the same court in a separate session and is facing the prospect of 10 years imprisonment on charges of hiring a man to kill Riyama.

The trial was adjourned until Sept. 14. (03)