The fall guy for the mighty who've fallen<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Last week I did not commemorate the victory of
\nthe Pancasila state ideology over the antigovernment coup
\nplotters, who in 1965 helped put the then Gen. Soeharto into the
\ncountry's saddle of power. However, I did spend my idle time on
\nanother important matter.<\/p>\n
I tried to ponder the fate of the smiling general's smiling
\nyoungest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, or Tommy. I sincerely felt
\nsympathy for the business baron because the Supreme Court
\nsentenced him to 18 months in jail. Tommy and Ricardo Gelael, a
\npartner of his, were found guilty of corruption in a 1995 land
\nexchange deal between wholesale firm PT Goro Batara Sakti and the
\nState Logistics Agency (Bulog).<\/p>\n
Tommy and the other Soeharto children started developing their
\nbusiness interests after their father managed to fasten his grip
\nas a kleptomaniac ruler. Tommy started with the Humpuss Group in
\n1984 when he was 22 years of age. The group has 70 companies in
\nvarious sectors, including aviation, automotives, toll road
\nconstruction, oil, gas, petrochemicals, timber and agribusiness.<\/p>\n
According to Asia's Wealth Club, a list of the 100 richest
\npeople in Asia, Tommy's estimated net worth is US$600 million.
\nBut he is a pauper compared to his sister Tutut, whose estimated
\nwealth is $2 billion.<\/p>\n
However, regardless of how rich he is, my initial reaction
\nfollowing the verdict's announcement was one of surprise:
\nSoeharto's son going to jail? It was beyond the nation's wildest
\ndream until 1998, the year he was forced by the students to step
\ndown.<\/p>\n
But after two minutes of thinking and blinking I realized that
\nit showed how times have really changed, the nation has been
\nfreed and the country's judiciary is courageous enough to hear
\nthe people. It is no longer a tool of a heartless tyrant.<\/p>\n
When the crime was committed, Tommy, as with the other
\nSoehartos, must have been carried away by smugness, believing his
\nfather's iron-fist rule would continue and God would step down
\nonce the mighty Soeharto went to heaven (mind you, Soeharto still
\nput an extra star on each of his epaulets).<\/p>\n
But my humble self felt deep sympathy when Tommy seemed to be
\nat a loss about how to avoid a prompt journey to Cipinang Prison.
\nHe could ask for a judicial review from the Supreme Court but he
\nseemed to be aware that he was short of fresh material evidence
\nto support his plea.<\/p>\n
At last he remembered Abdurrahman Wahid, the president he
\nknows well. Tommy knows Gus Dur not only as a head of state who
\nuntil recently was heads over heels to throw him behind bars, but
\nalso as a saint. So why not beg the pardon of such a good man?<\/p>\n
The public and Tommy were united in waiting for the
\npresidential decision. Normally a head of state would need months
\nto study his request, weighing it together with the
\nconsiderations of the Supreme Court and other officials before
\nmaking a decision. That would usually take up enough time for
\nsomeone to keep out of the slammer.<\/p>\n
However, Tommy again needed our sympathy. No sooner had the
\nenergetic Gus Dur reached the palace on his return from a foreign
\ntrip on Wednesday than he declared there would be no pardon for
\nTommy.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur cannot be blamed, or applauded, for everything. The
\nanticorruption drive was started by the People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR) in 1998 in its shocking decree, which singled out
\nSoeharto, his children and cronies as possible culprits.<\/p>\n
The greatest -- some would say tragic -- irony of the decree
\nwas that it was signed by none other then MPR speaker Harmoko,
\nwho until a few weeks before was Soeharto's most loyal fellow
\ntraveler.<\/p>\n
Now who is to blame for the decree made by the country's
\nhighest constitutional body? Harmoko? Two hundred million
\nIndonesians? Of course not.<\/p>\n
My neighbor, maybe. He guiltlessly commented on the decree:
\n\"The whole Cendana family will be moved to Cipinang? Why not?
\nThey are rich, they buy the whole plot of land and will not need
\nto build a wall because the old one is high enough to protect
\nthem.\"<\/p>\n
But it is hard to jail my neighbor because he is an editor
\nwhose newspaper was twice the victim of Soeharto's sword of
\nDamocles.<\/p>\n
Many believe Tommy has sacrificed for all, especially his
\nsiblings. Yet we are glad to see that his condition is much
\nbetter than other Indonesians, like the members of the Group of
\n50, the critics of his father who were ruthlessly ostracized for
\nvoicing their political stand, or those who were jailed by a
\nkangaroo court at his pleasure.<\/p>\n
At least Tommy got a fair trial. And he may yet become a hero
\nby acting as the \"protective agent\" for the rest of the
\nSoehartos.<\/p>\n
-- Thayeb I. Sabil<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-fall-guy-for-the-mighty-whove-fallen-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }