RI examines LA Police plea to extradite Oki
RI examines LA Police plea to extradite Oki
JAKARTA (JP): The National Police Force is considering a request by the Los Angeles Police Department to extradite Harnoko Dewanto, alias Oki, who is wanted in connection with the murders of his brother, a young Indonesian woman and an Indian citizen there last year.
Indonesian police have written to the Federal Bureau of Investigation requesting documents in support of the Los Angeles police's claim that 30-year old Oki is wanted in connection with the killings, Deputy Chief of Operational Affairs Maj. Gen. Koesparmono Irsan told reporters yesterday.
"We need these documents for our investigation against the suspect," Koesparmono said, adding "We've also received a copy of the arrest warrant, dated Dec. 27, from the Los Angeles police."
He declined to say whether Indonesia would be willing to hand the suspect over to the United States. A conviction of the killings would almost certainly mean that Oki would get the death sentence. The two countries do not have an extradition treaty.
But Koesparmono stressed that he hoped Oki would be tried in Indonesia.
City Police arrested Oki on Saturday at his relative's house in Paseban, Central Jakarta, after he was named by the Los Angeles police last month as the main suspect in the killings of his brother Eri Tri Harto Darmawan, 26, Gina Sutan Aswar, 30, an Indonesian female bank employee, and a 45 year old Indian laundry businessman, Surish Michandani.
According to reports from Los Angeles both Indonesians were beaten to death and the Indian was shot dead by the murderer.
The Los Angeles police issued a warrant for his arrest just before Christmas and had suggested that Oki might be in Indonesia.
Jakarta Police said he was arrested in connection with allegations that he has been forging passports. He underwent questioning yesterday but police declined to give details of the result.
Sources close to the investigation said that Oki has denied any part in the Los Angeles killings and has also denied charges that he forged passports.
Oki asserted his innocence, pointing out that he has been in Indonesia since 1993 and was planning to be appointed as a lecturer at a private university here, the sources said.
Discovery
Los Angeles police discovered the decaying corpses of the three victims in a Northridge storage locker on Aug. 10, 1993. It took them four months to discover their identities, which subsequently led them to believe that they were murdered by Oki.
Local police said that Oki knew the others socially and he is believed to be the last person to have seen Gina before she was reported missing on Nov. 2, 1992, while Michandani was last seen on Aug. 19, 1991, reported the Los Angeles Times.
There is yet to be any information released about Eri, whose body is being kept at the Los Angeles county coroner.
"As far as I know, Eri Tri Harto Darmawan is the name of Oki's younger brother," said Haridadi Sudjono, Indonesia's consulate general in Los Angeles, reported Suara Pembaruan daily yesterday.
According to Haridadi, the corpse of Gina was to be flown to Jakarta yesterday, following identification by her brother and brother-in-law.
During questioning at Jakarta police headquarters yesterday, police asked the help of a psychiatrist, as Oki kept changing his story.
Earlier press reports suggested that Oki was known in Jakarta's young elite circle as a supplier of drugs and that Gina had also been recruited as part of the team.
But a senior police officer in the anti-drug unit told The Jakarta Post that neither Oki, Gina nor Eri are on their list of wanted drug dealers. (bsr)