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)