Gus Dur to sue Soehartos, lawyers for defamation

Gus Dur to sue Soehartos, lawyers for defamation

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman is preparing to take legal
action against several members of the family of former president
Soeharto and their lawyers over defamation, a presidential
spokesman said on Wednesday.

"Gus Dur will sue people who have made slanderous accusations
especially those concerning the meeting at the Borobudur hotel,"
presidential spokesman Adhie Massardi told journalists.

Adhie was referring to the secret meeting between the
President, known as Gus Dur, and Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra at the five-star hotel last month.

Gus Dur has said that during the meeting he repeated that he
would not grant Tommy the presidential pardon he was seeking over
an 18-month-jail term for corruption issued by the Supreme Court
in September.

Adhie said that the President would take legal action against
Tommy's lawyers, his father-in-law Bambang Sucahyo Suryobandoro
and Tommy's sister Siti Hediati Hariyadi, popularly known as
Titiek Prabowo.

"The President is currently in the process of submitting a
complaint with the prosecutor's office and the police," Adhie
said.

Titiek was grilled by the police last week over the
whereabouts of Tommy. At the time she retaliated saying that it
was time the police asked Abdurrahman about Tommy's
disappearance.

Many suspect that during the meeting with Tommy, Abdurrahman
was trying to cut a deal to secure the return of the Soeharto
family wealth allegedly amassed during his 32 years in power.

Gus Dur, however, has repeatedly dismissed such speculation.

Tommy has been on the run since Nov. 3, the day after Gus Dur
refused to grant him a presidential pardon.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Indonesian Lawyer's Association
(IKADIN) Sudjono said the police could not name the family of
former president Soeharto suspects in the escape of his youngest
son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra although they might know his
whereabouts.

"Article 221 of the Criminal Code clearly says that the family
of a convict who is on the run cannot be prosecuted due to their
knowledge of his or her whereabouts," he was quoted by Antara.

Sudjono declined to comment on the police's decision to name
Tommy's father-in-law RM. Bambang Adi Sucahyo a suspect and
arrest him for allegedly hampering the execution of Supreme Court
verdict, which sentenced Tommy to 18 months in jail.

"It is improper, but police perhaps have the reasons for
that," he said.

The arrest followed reports from the South Jakarta
prosecutors' office.

A criminal law professor at University of Indonesia, Andi
Hamzah, seconded Sudjono's remarks, saying that the arrest of
Tommy's father-in-law lacked legal basis.

But Andi agreed that everybody, incuding Soeharto's family,
was equal before the law.

He hailed the police's decision to name Tommy's sister Siti
Hutami Endang Adiningsih for illegal arm possession. (01/byg)