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)