BPK report 'led to Tommy's sentence'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): While court officials disputed the ruling,
\nSupreme Court director for criminal cases Djoko Sarwoko said on
\nWednesday that \"old evidence\" had led justices to sentence former
\npresident Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra to
\n18 months in prison.<\/p>\n
The court sentenced Tommy and his business associate Ricardo
\nGelael on Tuesday for their involvement in a Rp 95.4 billion
\n(US$11.2 million) land exchange deal with the State Logistics
\nAgency (Bulog) in 1995.<\/p>\n
\"There were no new witnesses or pieces of evidence. The
\nSupreme Court used the audit reports of the Supreme Audit Agency
\n(BPK) to come to a decision. It's clearly shown in the reports
\nthat the state incurred losses,\" Djoko said at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
\"Meanwhile, the district court panel probably did not consider
\nwhat the witnesses were saying and, even if the panel did
\nconsider (the witness testimony), it was not very thorough.\"<\/p>\n
Djoko added that the district court had exonerated Tommy and
\nRicardo based on an official letter from the then Bulog chief
\nRahardi Ramelan, who assured the district court that Bulog had
\nsuffered no losses from the deal.<\/p>\n
Apart from the jail terms, the Supreme Court verdict sentenced
\nboth defendants to pay a fine of Rp 10 million each or spend an
\nextra three months in jail. It also ordered state losses to be
\nrepaid.<\/p>\n
\"What makes the sentence heavier is that defendant Tommy gave
\ncomplicated statements during the trial, never expressed remorse
\nand had no intention of returning the state losses,\" the ruling
\nsaid, as quoted by South Jakarta District Court chief Lalu
\nMariyun.<\/p>\n
Tommy is the first member of the Soeharto family convicted by
\na court for corruption.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, President Abdurrahman Wahid
\ncontroversially ordered police to arrest Tommy in connection with
\nthe recent bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building.<\/p>\n
Supreme Court secretary-general Pranowo separately said on
\nWednesday that Tommy could propose a review of the case via his
\nlawyers.<\/p>\n
\"A proposal for the case to be reviewed, which can only be
\nsubmitted once, can be forwarded based on new evidence or proof
\nof violation by the panel of justices while handling the case,\"
\nPranowo said.<\/p>\n
\"The second option is an amnesty issued by the president,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The right to propose a review of a case is granted in the
\nCriminal Code Procedures (KUHAP).<\/p>\n
However, paragraph 1 of article 268 of the procedures
\nstipulate that \"submitting a proposal for a review of a case will
\nnot postpone nor halt the execution of the verdict\".<\/p>\n
In October 1999, the South Jakarta District Court exonerated
\nTommy and Ricardo, both executives of the wholesale firm PT Goro
\nBatara Sakti, of all corruption charges related to a 1995 land
\nexchange deal with Bulog, citing lack of evidence.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office appealed to the Supreme Court
\nupon the issuance of the verdict.<\/p>\n
Last year, auditor Mampan Manalu from the Supreme Audit Agency
\n(BPK) gave expert testimony in the trials of Tommy and Ricardo.
\nHe said he found that Bulog had suffered losses of about Rp 65
\nbillion and $400,000.<\/p>\n
His testimony contradicted that given by former Bulog chief
\nBeddu Amang in earlier court sessions -- also a defendant in the
\ncase -- who insisted Bulog suffered no losses.<\/p>\n
The BPK auditor said the same thing in an initial court
\nhearing against Ricardo.<\/p>\n
Under the land deal, signed in August 1995, Bulog was to
\nexchange a 50-hectare warehouse complex in Kelapa Gading for a
\n71-hectare plot in Marunda to be provided by PT Goro. Both plots
\nare located in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Auditor Manalu said Rp 13 billion of Bulog's losses were
\nincurred when PT Goro demolished 11 Bulog warehouses in Kelapa
\nGading.<\/p>\n
He said Bulog suffered potential losses of Rp 52 billion
\nbecause the agency had to spend money to buy land in Marunda.<\/p>\n
The $400,000 were spent by the agency to rent other warehouses
\nfrom a businessman called Hokiarto, who was also a suspect in the
\ncase, because it could no longer use the warehouses demolished by
\nGoro, he said.<\/p>\n
Manalu said the land exchange deal should have been conducted
\nbased on a minister of finance decree even though PT Goro had
\nsecured an approval from then president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"The decree is still valid although the (then) president
\n(Soeharto) agreed to the land exchange deal,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The decree stipulates that the land deal should have been
\ncarried out through an open tender, with substitute land first
\nprovided by the firm.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, head of the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office
\nAntasari Azhar said on Wednesday that his office would execute
\nthe Supreme Court's verdict in the next two or three days.<\/p>\n
Antasari said he had officially received the Supreme Court's
\nruling from the South Jakarta District Court and had ordered the
\nprosecutors to immediately notify Tommy.<\/p>\n
\"Within the next two or three days, we'll summon and
\nofficially notify Tommy of the verdict and at the same time we
\nwill execute the verdict (jail sentence),\" he said on the
\nsidelines of a visit to the venue of former president Soeharto's
\nhearing, due to continue on Thursday. (bby\/ylt)<\/p>",
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