Hunt for fugitive Tommy intensifies<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): After asking the help of Interpol to put the
\nname of Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra on their worldwide list of
\nwanted people, the police have widened their search for the
\nnation's most wanted fugitive by combing several additional sites
\noutside of the capital Jakarta.<\/p>\n
By Friday, police detectives had searched a number of sites,
\nincluding some of the country's popular resort islands such as
\nBali, Batam, Lombok and the Thousand Islands right up to the East
\nKalimantan-Malaysia border.<\/p>\n
But until late on Friday evening, police officers claimed to
\nhave come out empty-handed in their search for the youngest son
\nof former president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"The manhunt for Tommy has reached the Thousand Islands (a
\ncluster of islands off the coast of Jakarta) this morning as well
\nas other places in Bekasi and Sukabumi (in West Java),\" National
\nPolice spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"We realize the public's doubt about our ability to find
\nTommy, but we have put our maximum effort into locating him.\"<\/p>\n
According to officer Saleh, the Interpol headquarters in
\nSierra-Leon, France, agreed on Friday to put Tommy on their list
\nof wanted people which will be distributed to all countries all
\nover the world.<\/p>\n
Tommy, who was convicted on Sept. 22 of graft in a land swap
\ndeal, has ignored calls to surrender. He has been missing ever
\nsince President Abdurrahman Wahid rejected his plea for a pardon
\nlast week. Tommy was declared a fugitive on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The 1995 land swap deal between the State Logistics Agency
\n(Bulog) and Tommy's company PT Goro Batara Sakti, which caused Rp
\n76.7 billion in state losses, also involved his business partner,
\nRichardo Gelael.<\/p>\n
Both Tommy and Gelael were sentenced to 18 months in prison by
\nthe Supreme Court. Gelael, who is also a close friend of Tommy in
\nthe sportscar racing game, began serving his sentence last Friday
\nat the Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
According to Tommy's defense team, the fugitive has refused to
\ngo to jail after supposedly receiving a threat from an unknown
\nperson via a telephone call, who vowed to abuse him if he ever
\nwent behind bars.<\/p>\n
Officer Saleh said the police would guarantee Tommy's security
\nif only the latter would present himself for sentencing.<\/p>\n
\"The security guarantee is not provided only for Tommy but for
\nother prisoners as well,\" he added.<\/p>\n
In Pamekasan, East Java, President Abdurrahman said he had
\nrefused Tommy's request for special treatment during the serving
\nof his imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman said Tommy had once asked for a private cell to be
\nbuilt in the Cipinang Penitentiary and to be allowed to bring
\nalong eight of his bodyguards to prevent him from being abused.<\/p>\n
\"No one is above the law. I call on Tommy to surrender so he
\ncan be sent to jail. If he is here in the morning and finds the
\nprison is not safe for him, he may move to another prison in the
\nafternoon,\" Abdurrahman was quoted by Antara as saying at a
\nfunction commemorating Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)'s 77th anniversary.<\/p>\n
In Semarang, House of Representatives (DPR) Chairman Akbar
\nTandjung has lashed out at accusations that the President has
\nbeen protecting Tommy.<\/p>\n
\"I think that is not true. How could Gus Dur protect Tommy? In
\nfact, it is Gus Dur who has ordered the arrest of Tommy,\" he said
\non the sidelines of a seminar on Friday.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party, said the
\naccusation was aimed at discrediting the President.<\/p>\n
Separately, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman insisted that
\nhis intelligence officers had checked and found that Tommy had
\nnot been in his residence since the verdict was announced last
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
\"Moreover, the convict had not received the copy of the
\npresidential decree rejecting his pardon on the same day as the
\nprosecutors' summons,\" he told journalists at his office.<\/p>\n
Tommy's lawyers used the situation as a chance to avoid direct
\nexecution of the sentence, arguing that prosecutors could not
\nexecute the ruling until the convicted had received a copy.<\/p>\n
Separately in the day, Supreme Court Judge Muladi said that no
\nsanctions could be taken against prosecutors should they be
\nproven to have protected a fugitive because such a situation has
\nnot yet been stated in the Criminal Code. (bby\/jaw\/ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hunt-for-fugitive-tommy-intensifies-1447893297",
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