Abdurrahman admits to meeting Tommy

Abdurrahman admits to meeting Tommy

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid confirmed on
Saturday that he met with Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, but
quickly refuted suggestions that he had made a deal to review
the 18-month jail sentence handed down to Tommy.

When asked by journalists, Abdurrahman admitted that he had
recently met with the youngest son of former president Soeharto
at Borobudur Hotel, Central Jakarta.

"He asked that a review be conducted on the Supreme Court
verdict," the President said after attending a meeting at the
National Awakening Party office here.

The Supreme Court recently sentenced Tommy to 18 months in
prison for corruption. Tommy was found guilty of causing losses
to the state in a Rp 95.4 billion (US$11.2 million) land exchange
deal in 1995 with the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

The verdict came a day before the South Jakarta District Court
dropped corruption charges against Soeharto after deeming
medically unfit to stand trial.

Tommy has filled for a presidential pardon and a postponement
of the execution of the Supreme Court's verdict.

Abdurrahman stressed on Saturday that he had not made any deal
with Tommy concerning the case, and that any legal decision was
up to the Supreme Court.

"I told him that it (the review) was the Supreme Court's
business, not mine," the President asserted.

"So there's no KKN," he added, referring to collusion,
corruption and nepotism.

Abdurrahman would not go into detail about the meeting.

Speculation had been rife in the past few days that
Abdurrahman had met with Tommy and cut a deal with the Soeharto
family.

The President in the past had disclosed that the government
would launch a two pronged offensive against the Soeharto family
-- the first would be through a formal legal process by bringing
Soeharto to court, while the second would be through private
negotiations, led by Coordinating Minister for Political,
Security and Social Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to return
the alleged ill-gotten wealth amassed by the family during
Soeharto's rule.

Many suspected that the meeting was part of this arrangement.

Sources close to the President told The Jakarta Post that as
many as two meetings may have been held with Soeharto's youngest
son between Oct. 5 to Oct. 8.

In at least one of the meetings Tommy's elder sister, Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana, was believed to have attended.

Sources also hinted that an initial figure of about $5 billion
had been put forward as a possible condition for considering a
presidential pardon.

In June, Abdurrahman boasted that some $25 billion of
Soeharto's wealth could be returned to the state. Soeharto has
denied allegations that he has abundant wealth.

On a separate matter, Abdurrahman reasserted that he would not
heed a summons by the House of Representatives special commission
investigating a scandal involving a $2 million donation he
received from the Brunei sultan.

"If they summon me I will not come. Why should I bother with
it while there's other (more important) things to do," he
asserted.

The President also brushed aside suggestions that he would
resign from the Shimon Peres Foundation amid public outcry at
heightened tension in the Middle East. (byg/mds)