Group of lawyers urge police to detain Elza

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A group of lawyers met the Jakarta Police chief, Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara, on Thursday to urge the police to charge Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's lawyer Elza Syarief as the main suspect in the bribing of a witness in Tommy's murder trial, and to immediately detain her.

"We are aghast to learn that a lawyer is suspected of being involved in a bribery case. This tragic case will tarnish the image of lawyers in Indonesia," said Palmer Situmorang, spokesman for the 17 lawyers, who called themselves the Indonesian Lawyers' Salvation Committee (KPAI).

The lawyers come from various organizations, including the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin), the Association of Indonesian Advocates (AAI) and the Indonesian Lawyers' Union (IKPI).

"The police should not only detain the one who received the bribe, but also the lawyer who bribed him," Palmer said.

He told reporters that they had visited the police chief to urge him to speed up the investigation into the bribery case.

"If it takes a long time, we're afraid that the public will begin to assume that lawyers are above the law," said Palmer.

Early on Sunday, the police arrested Rahmat, a security guard at the Soeharto family's Cemara Apartments in Menteng, Central Jakarta, for allegedly perjuring himself during the Tommy Soeharto trial.

During the session in question, Rahmat, as well as two other witnesses who were also security guards at the apartments, Tatang Somantri and Laimin, retracted their statements to police and denied that the signatures on the statements belonged to them.

They showed the court their new ID cards which bore different signatures. Their signatures on the evidential documents were, however, the same as on their old ID cards.

On Wednesday, Rahmat admitted publicly that he was paid Rp 2 million by Elza to commit perjury. He said that before the hearing, Elza asked him and Tatang to come to her office on Jl. Kramat Sentiong, Central Jakarta, where he received the money.

Tatang and Laimin are still at large.

During the meeting with the city police chief, the KPAI also voiced their support for the police, saying that Rahmat's detention had not violated any legal procedures as claimed by Rahmat's lawyer, Nudirman Munir.

Munir, who was previously also Tommy's lawyer, claimed that Rahmat could only be arrested on foot of a court order, and has filed a lawsuit against the police.

But Rahmat on Wednesday said that he knew nothing about the lawsuit.

Palmer said that the police did not need a court order to arrest Rahmat because they only found out about the perjury after the hearing was over.

Chief of the police's Anticorruption Division, Adj. Sr. Comr. Anton Wahono, said that Elza would be charged as a suspect after the police had gathered sufficient evidence.

"We are currently still conducting out investigation and have to question eight witnesses. I've told you that the charging of Elza as a suspect is just a matter of time," said Anton.