Judge who sentenced Tommy to prison gunned down<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who
\nsentenced former president Soeharto's son and golfing buddy to
\njail for corruption, was shot dead on Thursday morning while
\ndriving to work at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses said they saw four men on two motorcycles forcing
\nSyafiuddin to stop his Honda CRV jeep on Jl. Serdang Kemayoran,
\nCentral Jakarta, at about 8:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
One man approached him from the right before shooting him
\ntwice in the head through the closed window. The other fired at
\nhis chest from the left of the car.<\/p>\n
The four men fled the scene immediately, according to
\nwitnesses.<\/p>\n
Following the shootings, the victim's vehicle lost control and
\nstruck a nearby cigarette stall and a roadside barber, seriously
\ninjuring the cigarette vendor.<\/p>\n
Syafiuddin's body was first taken to the Islamic Hospital in
\nnearby Cempaka Putih before it was taken to the Cipto
\nMangunkusumo General Hospital. The corpse was then buried later
\nin the day at Tanah Kusir Cemetery, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Justice Syafiuddin headed the panel of judges that sentenced
\nHutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra Soeharto last September to an 18-
\nmonth jail term and fined him Rp 30.7 billion (US$3 million) on
\ncharges of corruption.<\/p>\n
Tommy is currently still at large.<\/p>\n
Syafiuddin was also a member of the panel of judges who freed
\nSoeharto from house arrest and sentenced the former president's
\nclose ally, Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, to six years in jail earlier
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
Born on Sept. 5, 1940, Syafiuddin's last position was junior
\njustice for general crimes at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Syafiuddin, a resident of Jl. Lamtana II in Sunter, North
\nJakarta, is survived by his wife, So'imah, 58, and three
\nchildren, namely Anna Maria, 31, Arief Achdiat, 25, and Aida Agra
\nPutri, 18.<\/p>\n
The shooting of Syafiuddin surprised law enforcers and the
\npolitical elite alike, who received the news while gathered at
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly building for the vice-
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
At the end of the Assembly's session, President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri led a minute of silence to pray for Syafiuddin.<\/p>\n
Sr. Commissioner Adang Rochjana, chief detective at city
\npolice, said the police had launched an investigation.<\/p>\n
"This was premeditated... We will investigate whether the
\nmurder was connected with the Tommy Soeharto case," he told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Bagir Manan said that it was not difficult to
\nassume that the murder was related to cases Syafiuddin had worked
\non.<\/p>\n
According to Bagir, Syafiuddin was known as a person with
\nintegrity, who was committed to eradicating corruption, which is
\nalso rampant at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
R. Sunu Wahadi, retired justice and a member of the panel of
\njudges that sentenced Tommy to jail, said Syafiuddin had
\ncomplained to him that he was often approached by people who
\ntried to offer him bribes.<\/p>\n
He said the last time he met Syafiuddin was on Tuesday, when
\nthe latter told him that there were people who had offered him Rp
\n20 billion in exchange for winning Bob Hasan's case.<\/p>\n
"He also said that people linked to Pande Lubis, (an acquitted
\nsuspect in the Bank Bali corruption case) had approached him too,
\nbut he had rejected all their offers," Sunu told the media,
\nbefore the ceremonial tribute to Syafiuddin.<\/p>\n
Bagir said the tragedy would not scare them away from handling
\nsuch sensitive cases, saying it was only the risk supreme
\njustices have to take.<\/p>\n
"If the culprits thought such a tragedy could scare us, then
\nthey have got it wrong," Bagir told reporters at his office.<\/p>\n
Bagir's deputy chief Taufiq, who is currently handling the
\nreview of the Supreme Court's ruling on Tommy, said that he would
\nnot be influenced by the shooting.<\/p>\n
"I'm not afraid. It's the risk of this profession. I don't
\nthink I need special protection," he said.<\/p>\n
The Research Institute and Law Assistance for Court
\nIndependency (LeiP) and the Study Center for Indonesian Law and
\nPolicy (PSHK), while condemning the murder, called on the police
\nto provide protection for judges, especially those serving at the
\nSupreme Court, whether they were on or off duty.<\/p>\n
"This shooting incident will have an adverse impact on the
\ncountry's drive to uphold the law," they declared in a joint
\nstatement. (06\/ylt\/bby)<\/p>",
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