Riyama's killer gets 18 years imprisonment
Riyama's killer gets 18 years imprisonment
JAKARTA (JP): North Jakarta District Court sentenced Goenadi
Tjahyo Wargo to 18 years imprisonment yesterday for killing Dr.
Riyama Yawoga, a general practitioner, in January.
"After examining all the facts I find the defendant guilty as
charged," presiding Judge Surti Hari Pramono said.
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. A mother of two children, Riyama had divorced her husband
to marry Ridwan Surya Dhanu, her clandestine lover, who already
had two wives.
Ridwan allegedly asked Goenadi to kill Riyama to stop her
marriage demands and to eliminate the Rp 200 million debt he owed
her. Ridwan, who is now being tried by the same court, is facing
10 years imprisonment on charges of hiring Goenadi to kill
Riyama.
Prosecutor Omsin Subarkah said previously that Goenadi had
accepted Rp 120 million from Ridwan to kill Riyama.
Ridwan allegedly paid that sum to Goenadi in installments, Rp
20 million on Dec. 21 last year, and the rest on Jan. 15, the day
after the general practitioner was found dead.
Responding to the verdict, Goenadi's defense lawyer, Alamsyah
Hanafiah, said that he will appeal to the Jakarta High Court
because he believes Goenadi is innocent.
"We will file our appeal this week and the High Court decision
can be expected to be announced about three months after the
appeal is presented," he told The Jakarta Post.
The lawyer also said that there were some irregularities in
Judge Surti's verdict, which he plans to use in the legal
argument for the appeal.
Confiscation
He said that the court had violated the defendant's basic
rights by confiscating more money than it should have.
"The amount of money stated in the indictment, or revealed
during the court sessions, was only Rp 120 million, but the court
took Rp 175 million from the two defendants' bank accounts, Rp 90
million from Goenadi's and Rp 85 million from Ridwan's," he said.
Alamsyah also objected to the judge's decision to give Rp 55
million to Riyama's family from the total amount of the
confiscated money because, he said, the money belongs to Ridwan
and Goenadi.
The lawyer, who has charged Goenadi Rp 10 million (US$4,591)
in defense fees, said that his client will not compromise with
any court decision finding him guilty of murder.
"But he is willing to obey the court's verdict if he is
indicted for perjury," Alamsyah said.
Goenadi retracted all of his confessions in a court session on
July 27, saying that he was only a scapegoat and would never have
committed murder, even for Rp 120 million.
Later on it was reported that Goenadi retracted his
confessions because Ridwan did not keep his promise to provide
him with money to take the rap.
Prosecutor Omsin said that Goenadi's retraction was
meaningless because the police lab determined that fingerprints
found at the scene of the crime were his and because bloodstains
on his slippers matched Riyama's blood type. This evidence ,
according to the prosecutor, provided the basis for sentencing
Goenadi to 18 years in prison. (03)