RI teenager accused of murder in U.S.

RI teenager accused of murder in U.S.

JAKARTA (JP): A 19-year-old Indonesian and six of his
Vietnamese accomplices accused of murdering three Vietnamese in a
cafe in San Jose, California, earlier this month, went through an
arraignment process on Thursday at the San Jose district court.

"The Indonesian consulate general in San Francisco has sent a
representative to attend the case's first arraignment process,"
said Gustanto, the head of its information division, to the
Antara news agency.

The arraignment process will involve a hearing on the case and
issues pertaining to lawyers for the defendants.

Jef Subana is the second Indonesian in the U.S. accused of
homicide this year. The other, 30-year-old Harnoko Dewantono,
alias Oki, is now awaiting trial in Jakarta for the killing of
two Indonesians and an Indian in Los Angeles in 1991 and 1992.
Investigation of the Oki case is being conducted by the
Indonesian police in cooperation with U.S. police authorities.

Gustanto predicts that the trials for the San Jose murder case
could take a long time, pointing out that the arraignment process
alone would have to be done repeatedly.

The San Jose police are presently searching for additional
evidence and others suspected of being involved in the murder.

So far they have arrested seven men, including the Indonesian
identified as Jef Subana, for killing three men, reportedly the
wrong targets.

The men have been in detention since March 15 at the Santa
Clara County Department of Correction and are waiting for further
court procedures.

According to the March 12 edition of the San Jose Mercury
News, the killing occurred at 2:15 a.m. on March 11 at the Cafe
May Tim.

At the time, the three victims were playing video games in the
crowded cafe when a group of young men came up suddenly and
opened fire on them. Two victims died at the scene and another
died on his way to the San Jose Medical Center.

Gustanto said the Consulate General, like the rest of
Indonesia's consulates that face similar cases involving
Indonesians, would give Jef as much assistance as possible.

Jef claims only to have fired off some warning shots,
maintaining that his Vietnamese accomplices were the ones who
shot the victims, who were also Vietnamese.

Jef himself was also slightly wounded by a passing bullet fired
by one of his friends.

The suspects told the police they had shot the wrong targets,
and that they had been searching for those responsible for
wounding one of Jef's friends in an earlier incident.

There are presently some 4,000 Indonesian citizens living in
San Francisco, most of whom are high school and college students
studying at their own expense.

Gustanto said Jef's mother, Suhartini Subana, has met with
Consul General Ahmad Fauzi Gani and that she was "deeply shocked"
to learn that her son was involved.

Detective Sgt. Chuck Hahn from the San Jose Homicide
Department said the next arraignment process would be held on
April 11.

"This is the first murder case in San Jose which has resulted
in the death of three people in the last decade," he was quoted
by Antara as saying.

Hahn, who has been assigned to handle the case together with
his partner Sgt. Don Moore, said that if the suspects could face
the death penalty if they are found guilty of murder. (pwn)