U.S. government wants Oki to be trial in LA
U.S. government wants Oki to be trial in LA
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced
yesterday that the United States government has asked Jakarta for
the expulsion, not extradition, of Harnoko Dewantono, the main
suspect of a triple murder in Los Angeles.
The ministry's director general for political affairs, Izhar
Ibrahim, told reporters that the U.S.government wants Harnoko,
alias Oki, to be expelled in order to make it easier for
Washington to bring the suspect to trial in the U.S.
"It's not a request for extradition because we have no
extradition treaty with the United States," Izhar said.
Early last week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said
the Indonesian government had been studying a request by the
American government to extradite Oki, though it has since been
passed on to the Ministry of Justice. No official response,
however, has been given to the request.
"We understand the request, but I would say Oki will be tried
here," Attorney General Singgih said on a separate occasion here
yesterday.
"It's still under intensive police investigation," Singgih
said. He added that the dossiers of the case still have not been
completed and doubted the need of a special ministerial meeting
to decide on the venue for Oki's trial.
Last December, Los Angeles police named Oki as the main
suspect in the murders of Gina Sutan Aswar (a young Indonesian
woman), Oki's younger brother Eri Tri Harto Darmawan, and Suresh
Mirchandani, an Indian businessman. Police believe that the
murders took place between 1991 and 1992 in Los Angeles.
Their decomposed bodies were found in a storage locker last
August and were not identified until four months later.
Oki has been in Jakarta police custody since early January,
though he was initially arrested in connection with a passport
forgery case.
Last month the Jakarta Police sent its detectives to Los
Angeles to gather evidence and on Sunday it was the turn of two
LAPD detectives to visit Jakarta to help with the investigation.
Late in the afternoon yesterday, one of the visiting
detectives told reporters that the trial venue for Oki was still
uncertain. He said, however, that Oki might still be taken to
court in Los Angeles.
Oki has been in police custody for five weeks, but police have
yet to come to a definitive conclusion about his role in the
murder case.
City police chief Brig. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said last week that
the dossiers might be finished some time this week.
"Insya Allah (If God willing)," Dibyo said. (bsr/pwn/imn)