Tommy's man hired me: Defendant<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A defendant accused in the drive-by shooting of Supreme Court
\nJustice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita in July, confessed that he was
\nhired by an aide of Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra to carry out the
\nassassination.<\/p>\n
However, the defendant, R. Maulawarman, 37, also known under
\nthe alias Molla, denied that he had ever meet Tommy.<\/p>\n
\"I did not know Tommy personally, but his man, Frans, a
\nresident of Pinang Cipondoh area, Tangerang, contacted me,\" he
\nsaid during a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court,
\npresided over by Judge Amiruddin Zakaria.<\/p>\n
His admission of guilt surprised many in the audience. Even
\nhis lawyer, Suhardi Somomoeljono, appeared shocked, and said that
\nMolla had never told attorneys about his planned admission of
\nguilt before the court.<\/p>\n
\"He asked me this morning (Monday) to tell the panel of judges
\nthat he wanted to present his own defense,\" he told The Jakarta
\nPost, adding that Molla wrote his defense on a piece of paper.<\/p>\n
The hearing was originally intended to allow the defense from
\nlawyers of Molla and another defendant to testify, Noval Hadad.<\/p>\n
Both defendants face charges of premeditated murder which, as
\nstipulated in article 340 of the Criminal Code, carries the death
\npenalty.<\/p>\n
\"At that time, me, Noval, Alex and Mukti drove on two Yamaha
\nRX King motorbikes. Why did not the police arrest them?\" Molla
\nasked in reference to the shooting incident.<\/p>\n
Molla did not elaborate on the guilt of Alex and Mukti, but he
\ndid admit that two of four men fatally shot the justice.<\/p>\n
He also denied that he had taught Noval on how to use a gun as
\nstated in the indictment.<\/p>\n
According to the indictment, Noval, who was sitting behind
\nMolla on a black Yamaha RX King, shot Syafiuddin with a black,
\n9-millimeter Beretta several times on July 26 last year.<\/p>\n
A police spokesman, Sr.Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam maintained
\nthat the assassination was carried out by four men on two
\nmotorcycles. But eyewitnesses said that it was only two men who
\nopened fire.<\/p>\n
Syafiuddin was shot on July 26, 2001 while driving his car to
\nwork. He had sentenced Tommy in October 2000 to 18 months in jail
\nfor corruption.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the police expected on Monday to complete within
\ndays the dossiers on Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra over his
\nalleged masterminding of the murder of Supreme Court Justice M.
\nSyafiuddin Kartasasmita after they were returned by the Jakarta
\nProsecutors' Office.<\/p>\n
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said on
\nMonday that the police had actually filed the dossiers with the
\nProsecutor's Office, which then returned them as the prosecutors
\nconsidered them incomplete.<\/p>\n
\"We had to insert some additional data into the dossiers which
\nwas needed by the court in trying the murder case,\" said Anton.
\nHe declined to elaborate.<\/p>\n
According to Tommy's lawyer Elza Syarief and chief of
\ndetectives for financial affairs Adj. Sr. Comr. Benny Mokalo,
\nTommy was not interrogated over the murder case, but over the
\nextortion that allegedly involved Raden Dody Sumadi, who is known
\nas former president Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid's ally and
\nMuhammad Sidiq Muin, popularly known as Gus Dur's spiritual
\nadviser.<\/p>\n
Observers warned earlier that the cases highlighted by Tommy's
\nlawyers might be intended to distract public attention from
\nTommy's main cases as the former drag big names into the legal
\narena.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman and his wife Sinta Nuriyah were summoned by police
\nas witnesses in the extortion case last week.<\/p>\n
Anton said the police might find that the extortion case
\nturned into one of bribery committed by Tommy should the results
\nof the investigation lead in that direction.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tommys-man-hired-me-defendant-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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