Authorities fail to find Tommy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In a desperate move to bring former president
\nSoeharto's son Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra to jail, police
\ninvestigators and state prosecutors on Wednesday swept through
\nfive houses belonging to Soeharto family members in the
\nprestigious Menteng area, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The move, however, only added to the officers' record of
\nfailure since Monday.<\/p>\n
Head of the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office Antasari Azhar,
\nalong with South Jakarta Police chief Supt. Bambang Widaryatmo
\nand community administrators of the neighborhood, began the
\nsearch operation by visiting Tommy's residence on Jl. Yusuf
\nAdiwinata at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n
Unable to find the convict at his own residence, the search
\nteam then looked for Tommy at the residences of his younger
\nsister Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih on Jl. Cendana and Siti
\nHardijanti Rukmana on Jl. Yusuf Adiwinata. Both houses are only a
\nfew meters away from Tommy's.<\/p>\n
As they were still unable to find Tommy there, the team
\nmembers then went to Soeharto's residence, also on Jl. Cendana,
\nbefore they went to Tommy's elder brother Bambang Trihatmodjo's
\nresidence at nearby Jl. Tanjung.<\/p>\n
Head of the local community, Dedi Sudarmadi, who was escorting
\nthe team, said they had searched for Tommy in all rooms of the
\nhouses.<\/p>\n
\"We even searched for him in the kitchen and in the
\ncupboards,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Marzuki Darusman confirmed the search.<\/p>\n
\"Those places had been searched, but the team could not find
\nTommy there,\" he told journalists at the Presidential Palace.<\/p>\n
He said that President Abdurrahman Wahid had ordered the
\npolice to arrest Tommy immediately as the latter had insulted the
\nlaw by avoiding the execution of his 18-month jail term, which
\nwas issued by the Supreme Court last September.<\/p>\n
\"Arrest Tommy as soon as possible,\" Marzuki quoted Gus Dur as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors had named Tommy a fugitive since Friday night
\nafter the deadline for him to surrender expired at noon.<\/p>\n
Tommy was sentenced by the Supreme Court to serve 18 months in
\nprison and ordered to repay some Rp 30.7 billion in state losses,
\nplus a Rp 10 million fine.<\/p>\n
Tommy and his business associate Ricardo Gelael were found
\nguilty of causing state losses during a 1995 land swap deal
\nbetween their wholesale firm PT Goro Batara Sakti and the State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog).<\/p>\n
Tommy will be detained at the Cipinang Penitentiary in East
\nJakarta, along with Ricardo, who has already served six days of
\nhis 18-month jail sentence, after both of their appeals for a
\npresidential pardon were rejected by the President on Nov. 2.<\/p>\n
Fachmi, the executing prosecutor, who had earlier revealed to
\nthe press that Tommy would be arrested at 5 a.m. on Wednesday,
\nclarified that the plan had been canceled.<\/p>\n
\"I was informed that the arrest was aborted an hour later (at
\n6 a.m. Wednesday),\" he told journalists after attending the
\nhearing of a proposal filed by Tommy for a review of the Supreme
\nCourt's verdict at the South Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
In a later development, Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen.
\nMulyono Sulaiman said on Wednesday that after searching the
\nresidences of Tommy's family members and combing several areas in
\nCikampek, Sentul, and Gadog in Puncak, West Java, police remained
\nat a loss as to where Tommy was hiding.<\/p>\n
\"Tommy, surrender yourself. It's the best route you could
\ntake... this way we could escort you for the execution of the
\n(Supreme Court) verdict,\" Mulyono told reporters in a press
\nconference at the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Wednesday's conference was also attended by National Police
\nspokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf and Jakarta Deputy Police Chief
\nBrig. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara.<\/p>\n
While Saleh told reporters that a nationwide police manhunt to
\ntrack down and arrest Tommy was ongoing, Mulyono said that his
\ncellphone number was open 24 hours a day to the public for \"any
\ninformation on Tommy's whereabouts\".<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Makbul told reporters that he had been negotiating
\nwith Tommy's family members and lawyers from Tuesday night until
\ndawn on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"I tried to explain to them that it was best for him to give
\nhimself up. His family members say they are willing to help but
\nthat they themselves do not know where Tommy is,\" Makbul told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
Surakarta Police chief Sr. Supt. Aris Sampoerno believed that
\ncurrently Tommy is in one of five hideouts in the region of
\nKaranganyar regency and the capital of Solo.<\/p>\n
\"Those places are now under our intense surveillance,\" he told
\njournalists in Semarang.<\/p>\n
Aris said the five places include the Soeharto's family
\nresidence in Kalitan, the house of Tommy's wife in Banjarsari, a
\nresthouse in Tawangmangu belonging to his sister Hardijanti, a
\nhotel in Colomadu and a place in Mangadeg village.<\/p>\n
A member of Tommy's defense team told reporters on Wednesday
\nthat he plans to resign if his client remains at large over the
\nnext two days.<\/p>\n
\"I will resign if Tommy refuses to surrender within 48 hours
\nfrom today,\" the lawyer said, who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, the South Jakarta District Court accepted
\nthe appeal for a review of the Supreme Court's verdict during a
\nhearing and will hand the proposal to the Supreme Court within
\nthe next three days.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Sudarto said the three-member panel of judges
\nfound that the new evidence brought by Tommy's defense team was
\nsufficient. (45\/har\/ylt\/jaw\/bby)<\/p>",
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