Gus Dur upset over Tommy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid has no plans to fire
\nAttorney General Marzuki Darusman or National Police chief Gen.
\nSurojo Bimantoro despite their failure to arrest Hutomo \"Tommy\"
\nMandala Putra, presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
\"There is no such plan. But the President will conduct
\nintensive evaluations (of Marzuki and Bimantoro) because he is
\nvery upset with the work of the (legal) apparatus,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post several hours after the President arrived home
\nfollowing a week-long overseas trip.<\/p>\n
Wimar said on Wednesday Gus Dur, as the President is known,
\nhoped that Tommy, the youngest son of former president Soeharto,
\nwould be arrested before he arrived home.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur and his entourage landed in Jakarta on Thursday
\nevening from Brunei.<\/p>\n
Wimar said he had not yet had the opportunity to meet with the
\nPresident, who was resting after the trip.<\/p>\n
Tommy, a noted businessman, has been sentenced to 18 months in
\njail on corruption charges stemming from a 1995 land swap deal
\nwith the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). The deal caused the
\nstate some Rp 76.7 billion in losses.<\/p>\n
He has been on the run since Nov. 3, the day after Gus Dur
\nrefused to grant him a pardon. A number of journalists said they
\nsaw Tommy in a car -- escorted by at least seven other vehicles
\n-- as he left his house on Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta around
\nmidday on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n
The home was seized on Tuesday by prosecutors in a move to
\nsecure the fugitive's private assets. Tommy was ordered by the
\nSupreme Court on Sept. 22 to repay the some Rp 30.6 billion he
\ncost the state as a result of the land deal, as well as a fine of
\nRp 10 million.<\/p>\n
According to Wimar, an evaluation of the performances of
\nMarzuki and Bimantoro was just part of the process.<\/p>\n
\"If this problem (in arresting Tommy) cannot be settled, it
\nwill become the problem of the executives,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The President, he said, felt that prosecutors should not have
\nallowed Tommy to go free.<\/p>\n
\"That is why the President needs clarification from Marzuki,
\nwho might also be disappointed with the work of his staff (which
\nallowed Tommy to flee),\" Wimar added.<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office -- which is under the
\nsupervision of Marzuki -- ordered Tommy to surrender on Nov. 2,
\nthe same day the President refused to grant him a pardon.<\/p>\n
After Tommy failed to appear, the prosecutors extended the
\ndeadline for Tommy to surrender by one day.<\/p>\n
However, Tommy did not surrender, instead his lawyers showed
\nup at the prosecutor's office, saying their client would not
\nappear until he had received an authentic copy of the
\npresidential decree rejecting his pardon. The lawyers claimed
\nthey had only received a copy certified by the district court.<\/p>\n
Separately on Thursday, Marzuki denied his staff has been slow
\nin arresting Tommy.<\/p>\n
He said his office has been coordinating with the National
\nIntelligence Body since Wednesday to locate and arrest the
\nfugitive.<\/p>\n
\"Replacing or evaluating me is the right of the President,\"
\nMarzuki said, adding that he would not carry out his duties based
\non a deadline, but would do everything in his power to arrest
\nTommy.<\/p>\n
\"The most crucial thing for me is to arrest Tommy as soon as
\npossible. No deadline,\" Marzuki said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Bimantoro said special police teams, in
\ncooperation with the National Intelligence Body, had been formed
\nin each province to locate Tommy.<\/p>\n
He said the police were putting forth their best effort to
\nfind the fugitive.<\/p>\n
But Bimantoro said he would accept responsibility if Tommy was
\nnot arrested soon.<\/p>\n
Tommy's wife Ardhia Pramesti Rigita Cahyani, or Tata, failed
\nto appear at National Police Headquarters on Thursday to be
\nquestioned about the whereabouts of her husband.<\/p>\n
Police offered no explanation as to why she refused to appear.
\nIt also remained unclear whether the police would arrest Tata,
\nwho, according to Marzuki and other prosecutors, had said she
\nwould be willing to be arrested if her husband fled.<\/p>\n
She made this guarantee when Tommy filed an appeal on Oct. 2
\nat the South Jakarta District Court to extend the execution of
\nhis jail sentence.<\/p>\n
\"Even though Tata has failed to fulfill her letter of
\nguarantee, legally we cannot arrest her ... ,\" Marzuki said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
According to Bimantoro, the police would continue their
\nefforts to summon and question Tommy's relatives in an attempt to
\nlearn the whereabouts of the nation's most wanted criminal.
\n(bsr\/bby\/02\/jaw\/bkm)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-dur-upset-over-tommy-1447893297",
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