Fri, 24 Jun 1994

Taiwanese suspect may be tried in his country

JAKARTA (JP): Police said yesterday they may not be able to extradite YYS, a Taiwanese man believed to have murdered a businesswoman here last month, because Indonesia and Taiwan do not have diplomatic relations.

YYS, 45, believed to be the lover of the victim, Ivone, has been arrested by the Taiwanese authorities but the nonexistence of diplomatic ties between the two countries makes extradition hardly possible, Lt. Col. A. Latief Rabar, spokesman for the city police, told reporters.

Latief also said that the Taiwanese authorities's request on June 13 through Interpol Indonesia for the legal evidence in the case, including the autopsy and the victim's clothes, is a strong indication that YYS will not be extradited or tried in the Indonesian court.

Earlier Latief said that the city police are still negotiating with the Taiwanese authorities through both the Indonesian and Taiwanese chambers of commerce.

Latief said he hopes that the support of Interpol's bureau offices could lead to YYS's extradition to Jakarta. This would enable further investigations into Ivone's death, he said.

Aminuddin, the vice chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce for trade and international relations, said he has never received a request from the city police for help with the case.

"I never realized that the police were asking for our favor as they have not given us any details of the case," he said.

Ivone, divorced with one child, is believed to have been severely bludgeoned by YYS, who was her boyfriend, on April 28. The attack is believed to have occurred in her car on the way home from the Pantai Indah Kapuk complex in North Jakarta.

The woman sustained severe wounds on her head and neck, and was shocked and unable to speak after the attack, Latief said.

Ivone died on May 3 after being treated for six days in the intensive care unit of the Graha Medika hospital in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.

Based on the preliminary questioning of Alex and Wo, the other two suspects, the police concluded that YYS had two motives for attacking Ivone. First, Latief said, Ivone might have ignored YYS's repeated demands that she stop a love affair with another man.

Second, he added, the two might have had a disagreement about the stake YYS had in the victim's firm, which produces shoes.

Police said YYS disappeared after bringing Ivone to the hospital. He reportedly called the victim's mother and told her that Ivone had been seriously injured after falling from her car, said Latief. (03)