Elize's lawyer, police give conflicting accounts

Elize's lawyer, police give conflicting accounts

JAKARTA (JP): A lawyer of bomb-carrying suspect Elize Maria
Tuwahatu said on Thursday that his client had retracted her
statement that she had received the bombs from fugitive Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra, but city police are insisting that she did
no such thing.

"Elize's lawyer M. Bugis can say what he likes, but Elize has
never retracted her statements. She is sticking to her earlier
statement that Tommy gave her the bombs," Jakarta Police chief of
detectives Sr. Comr. Harry Montolalu announced.

Elize was arrested for possession of the bombs at Taman Mini
Indonesia Indah last Friday.

"Elize has signed the police dossiers on her ... the police
finished questioning her on Wednesday. Her dossiers will soon be
forwarded to state prosecutors."

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf earlier said
that the police had solid evidence that Elize's Timor sedan was
given to her by Tommy and that she had received biannual payments
of Rp 150 million each year since 1997, from Tommy.

Earlier on Thursday, Elize's lawyer M. Bugis claimed that
Elize was under a great deal of stress since her arrest, and was
in total shock when she was questioned immediately after her
arrest last Friday.

"While in shock she said lots of things ... now she denies
that Tommy gave her the bombs. She was close to Tommy, but
stopped meeting him after 1985. She's actually still stressed,"
he said.

This too was denied by Harry, who said that doctors from the
city police medical center had examined Elize and declared her
mentally and physically fit.

M. Bugis is a lawyer for the Republic Party, which is
reportedly funded by the family of former president Soeharto, and
in which Elize formerly served as a treasurer.

Since Elize's arrest, police have barred reporters from seeing
her or her mother, Sonya Tuwahatu, another suspect in the case.

Unlike suspects of general crimes, where police officers allow
reporters to freely interview suspects, bomb suspects are guarded
around-the-clock and are hardly ever allowed to see outside the
cell of a police detention center.

When bomb suspects are questioned by the police, the
interrogation room is secured by at least two officers sitting
outside the room.

Bunker

Separately, Harry said that police had already sent out a
second summons to Tommy's wife, Ardhia Pramesti "Tata" Regita
Cahyani, who is scheduled to be questioned on Friday for her
alleged role in obstructing police from locating an underground
bunker beneath the Central Jakarta residence of Tommy.

Tata was reportedly still in Singapore when she was summoned
for questioning on Monday.

"We'll wait for Tata tomorrow ... if she doesn't show up,
we'll apprehend her, wherever she is," Harry said.

The police on Monday questioned Tata's lawyer Juan Felix
Tampubolon on the same charges but he refused to answer the
questions, reasoning that his case was about professional ethics,
not crime. (ylt)