Verdict on Oki's sentence upheld

Verdict on Oki's sentence upheld

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta High Court upheld the Central Jakarta
District Court's death sentence verdict for Harnoko Dewantono,
alias Oki, who murdered three people in the United States.

A source at the district court said yesterday that a copy of
the high court's decision was received on Monday.

"We reproduced copies of the decision yesterday and sent them
to the prosecutor and Oki's lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat."

He said the high court's panel of judges, led by Soetarmiati,
said that the district court's verdict was correct. The high
court hearing took place on Sept. 9.

The district court sentenced Oki to death on May 13 after he
was found guilty of killing his Indian business partner, Suresh
Mirchandani, an Indonesian business partner, Gina Sutan Aswar,
and his younger brother, Tri Harto Darmawan, alias Eri, in Los
Angeles, California, between 1991 and 1992.

The court found Oki guilty of premeditated murder under
Article 340 of the Criminal Code.

In imposing the death sentence, the district court said that
it had reached the decision because of the sadistic nature of the
killings.

The court also said that because the crime was committed
overseas, it was an embarrassment to the country. (jun)