Police detain Tommy's lawyer in bribery case<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Police detained Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra's
\nlawyer, Elza Syarief, on Monday evening for allegedly bribing two
\nwitnesses to lie to the court during her client's trial.<\/p>\n
Elza signed her detention letter at 6:30 p.m., after being
\nquestioned for over seven hours at the Jakarta Police
\nHeadquarters, according to Adj. Sr. Comr. Anton Wahono, the chief
\ndetective in the city police's corruption division.<\/p>\n
A letter was sent to Elza's husband, Rear Adm. Yuswaji, a
\nmember of the Navy's intelligence division, notifying him of her
\ndetention.<\/p>\n
The police charged Elza with violating Article 242 of the
\nCriminal Code on giving false testimony under oath, and Article 2
\nof Law No. 11\/1980 on bribery.<\/p>\n
The first violation carries a maximum penalty of seven years
\nin prison, and the second five years in prison.<\/p>\n
During Monday's questioning, the police allowed Elza to take
\nseveral breaks to refresh herself. Elza arrived at police
\nheadquarters at about 10:25 a.m. wearing a red pantsuit, and
\nlater in the afternoon she was wearing a green pantsuit.<\/p>\n
Although allegations of bribery are not new for the country's
\njudiciary, where the practice of bribing witnesses, prosecutors
\nand judges is believed by many to be commonplace, this is the
\nfirst instance of a lawyer being detained by the police over such
\ncharges.<\/p>\n
Despite the seriousness of the charges against Elza, she
\nshould not have any difficulty finding lawyers willing to defend
\nher. According to T. Gayus Lumbuun, the head of Elza's current
\ndefense team, there are some 50 lawyers and advocates ready to
\ndefend their colleague.<\/p>\n
Last year, in the name of solidarity, dozens of lawyers came
\nout to support another of Tommy's lawyers, Juan Felix Tampubolon,
\nwho was named a suspect for allegedly aiding his then fugitive
\nclient in eluding the police. The final outcome of that case was
\nnever announced.<\/p>\n
Lumbuun told journalists that Elza admitted to having given Rp
\n1 million each to Rahmat Hidayat and Tatang Somantri, both former
\nsecurity guards at the Soeharto family-owned Cemara Apartments.<\/p>\n
\"It (the money) was used by the two witnesses to buy decent
\nclothes for their appearance at Tommy's trial ... and for other
\nthings, too,\" Lumbuun said.<\/p>\n
Rahmat and Tatang, who are currently in police detention, have
\nsaid that Elza gave them each Rp 1 million before they testified
\nin court, and after testifying on April 10 they received another
\nRp 1 million each from Elza's employee, Tiurma Sondang Pasaribu.<\/p>\n
The police believe that Elza bribed Rahmat and Tatang to
\nretract earlier statements they gave to police implicating Tommy
\nin the illegal possession of firearms, and to deny that the
\nsignatures on the statements were theirs.<\/p>\n
On April 14, the police arrested Rahmat for giving false
\ntestimony to the court. Several days later, Tatang was arrested
\non the same charge.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Monday, the ethics board of the Indonesian
\nAdvocates and Lawyers Association (HAPI) said it had yet to reach
\na decision on whether Elza violated the association's code of
\nethics.<\/p>\n
\"We (the five-members ethics board) have yet to reach a
\ndecision in this matter,\" said lawyer Yan Apul Girsang, who heads
\nthe board. The board plans to announce its decision next week.<\/p>\n
If Elza is ruled to have committed a serious violation of
\nHAPI's code of ethics, the association could revoke her
\nmembership and ask the Supreme Court to suspend her license to
\npractice law.<\/p>\n
Many legal observers, however, believe the association
\nlaunched its investigation into Elza's alleged breach of ethics
\nin order to deter the police from summoning her as a suspect in a
\ncriminal investigation.<\/p>\n
During a hearing of the ethics board last week, Elza said she
\ngave a total of Rp 5.8 million to Rahmat and Tatang, as well as
\nto Marvin Hukom and Beni M. Robani, two other employees of the
\nCemara Apartments who testified at Tommy's trial.<\/p>\n
Elza claimed she gave Rahmat and Tatang Rp 1 million each to
\nbuy new clothes for the trial out of \"humanitarian concerns\".<\/p>",
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