U.S. request for Oki's extradition under review
U.S. request for Oki's extradition under review
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is studying a request by the United
States government to extradite Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki, who
is wanted in connection with a triple murder in Los Angeles,
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday.
Alatas' comments, made to reporters while attending the
induction of new ambassadors at the State Palace, were the first
official confirmation that the United States has formally
requested that Indonesia hand over the 30-year old Oki.
The request was made to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Alatas said he had passed the matter on to the Ministry of
Justice whose experts will study and prepare the response to the
U.S. request.
Los Angeles police last December named Oki as the main suspect
in the murders of Gina Sutan Aswar (a young Indonesian woman),
his own brother Eri Tri Harto Darmawan, and Suresh Michandani, a
laundry businessman of Indian origin.
Their decomposed bodies were found in a storage locker last
August and only identified four months later.
Oki has been in Jakarta Police custody since early January,
initially in connection with a passport forgery case but
interrogators later expanded the investigation to include the
murder allegation in Los Angeles. The Jakarta Police have also
sent its detectives to the Californian city to gather evidence.
On Sunday, it was the turn of two Los Angeles detectives to visit
Jakarta to help with the investigation.
Oki's lawyer Amir Syamsuddin, responding to news of the
request for extradition, yesterday said he did not expect the
Indonesian government to grant it.
"I don't expect that to happen," he told The Jakarta Post. "We
have not even considered the likelihood of that."
There has been a debate among legal experts here about whether
Oki should be tried in Jakarta or Los Angeles.
Those who argued that he should be tried here said that
Indonesia should protect its own citizens and that Indonesian law
should be used in trying him.
Those who said he should be sent back to Los Angeles,
including the relatives of Gina, argued on practical grounds,
saying that most of the evidence and witnesses are in Los
Angeles. The Los Angeles district attorney's office has said it
could try Oki's case within two days of his return.
The legal debate about Oki's case also drew the attention of
the House of Representatives during a hearing yesterday between
Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman and the Commission III which
deals with legal issues.
Commission chairman Suhardi, himself a legal expert, said Oki
should be tried here no matter what it costs.
"The government should be prepared to bear the high costs," he
said. "It just goes to show that justice is costly."
He said there are ways of cutting costs, for example through
the use of tele-conference to hear the testimony of witnesses
during the trial. This would at least save on travel costs.
Minister Oetojo said that it is up to the Attorney General's
Office to determine whether to try Oki here or send him to the
United States.
"Obviously, our main concern is to have him tried here. But
let's just wait and see what develops," he said.
He acknowledged that the Indonesian prosecutors might not have
sufficient evidence to convict Oki in which case he would have to
be tried in the United States.
He said from a legal point of view, Oki could be tried in
Indonesia for a crime committed overseas. "It is natural for a
state to want to protect its own citizen, including on matters of
justice."
The absence of an extradition treaty between Indonesia and the
United States makes it difficult for Indonesia to send Oki to Los
Angeles, he said.
On the other hand, sending him there is possible under the Law
on International Legal Cooperation in the absence of an
extradition agreement, he said. (emb/imn/bsr)