Tommy Soeharto's case goes to Supereme Court for review<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Prosecutors opposed on Monday an attempt by Hutomo \"Tommy\"
\nMandala Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, to
\noverturn his murder conviction and 15-year prison sentence on the
\ngrounds of fresh evidence.<\/p>\n
But for the sake of procedures, presiding judge Ridwan Mansur
\nforwarded the case to the Supreme Court, who will have the final
\nsay on Tommy's request.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Hasan Madani concluded that the previous hearing at
\nthe Cilacap District Court in Central Java failed to produce new
\nevidence, including testimony by witnesses presented by the
\nconvict.<\/p>\n
During the earlier hearing in Cilacap, Tommy's lawyers John
\nKennedy Aziz and Dwi Sarjono presented five witnesses who,
\naccording to them, would throw new light into the case that
\nfavored the convict.<\/p>\n
The witnesses were a cleaning boy at the Cemara Apartments,
\nAsep Sarifudin, Cemara Apartment manager Beni M. Robani, PT
\nMampang Nugraha Prima staff member Renaldi, housemaid Slamet
\nSukma Jaya and forensic expert Abdul Munim Idris of the
\nUniversity of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The new evidence was expected to disprove the charges that
\nTommy had kept weapons in his apartment. It highlighted the
\ndiscovery of hair at the house which was not Tommy's.<\/p>\n
The cleaning boy told the Cilacap court that there were no
\nweapons at Tommy's residence, while the forensic expert said that
\nhair and nail samples found in the apartment belonged to someone
\nwhose blood type was different from Tommy's.<\/p>\n
Tommy was sentenced to 15 years in prison for ordering the
\nmurder of Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita who had sentenced him
\nto jail for graft,<\/p>\n
According to the law, a convict making a request for a
\nsentence review to the Supreme Court must submit new evidence to
\nthe district court that heard the case. The district court will
\nthen examine the new evidence.<\/p>\n
Legal observers warned of flaws in Tommy's verdict that could
\nprompt the Supreme Court to overturn it.<\/p>\n
One of the loopholes was the fact that police failed to secure
\na warrant before seizing firearms and ammunition believed to be
\nowned by Tommy from different locations.<\/p>\n
Evidence is invalid if it is seized without a warrant.<\/p>\n
Tommy announced soon after his conviction in August last year
\nthat he would not appeal the prison term but stressed that he
\nwould consider other legal options \"taking into account the
\npolitical situation in the country\".<\/p>\n
He is currently being held at the Batu Penitentiary on
\nNusakambangan Island, Central Java. The prison island is under
\nthe jurisdiction of Cilacap District Court.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tommy-soehartos-case-goes-to-supereme-court-for-review-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}