Gus Dur told to comply with law on Tommy's case

Gus Dur told to comply with law on Tommy's case

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid has been reprimanded
following his secret meeting with former president Soeharto's son
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who has been convicted in a Rp 76.7
billion corruption case in a land exchange deal with the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog).

House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung reminded the
President on Sunday that he had to be consistent in upholding the
law, especially concerning Tommy.

"The meeting between the President and Tommy must not affect
the legal process (of the corruption case). We have agreed to
treat everybody equally before the law," Akbar told Antara prior
to the opening of the 104th Inter-Parliamentary Union at the
Jakarta Convention Center.

Tommy has applied for a presidential pardon after the Supreme
Court sentenced him to a 18-month jail term.

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, admitted to having met
Tommy at the plush Borobudur Hotel, Central Jakarta, but
dismissed speculation that he had made a deal to review the
sentence handed down to Tommy.

The government has in the past few months tried to secure the
return of alleged ill-gotten wealth reportedly amassed by
Soeharto's family during his 32 years in power.

Many suspected that the meeting with Tommy was part of the
arrangement.

Separately, Soetardjo Soerjogeritno of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle expressed doubt over the fate of the
legal process in the case of Tommy due to the President's
intervention.

"Gus Dur has repeatedly ordered the arrest of Tommy and said
he will reject his request for a pardon. But the meeting between
the two will certainly affect the legal process," Soetardjo said.

Soetardjo questioned why the meeting was held in a hotel,
saying it only raised speculation of collusion and breached the
spirit of openness the new government is campaigning for.

"Gus Dur is inconsistent. He has secretly built close
relations with the Cendana family," Soetardjo said, referring to
the street where Soeharto and his family live.

Akbar also lashed out at the secrecy of the meeting.

"Such a meeting should be held at an official venue, and is
not supposed to be done in a familial manner," he remarked.

But Akbar believed that President Abdurrahman would not cause
a break down in the ongoing legal process of Tommy's corruption
case.

"I'm sure the meeting will not change Gus Dur's stance on a
pardon for Tommy. It will never happen," he said.

One of Tommy's lawyers, Nudirman Munir, said he knew nothing
about the meeting.

He said Tommy's defense team was currently preparing an appeal
for a review of the Supreme Court's verdict.

"We have found new evidence of our client's innocence and we
will submit the appeal to the South Jakarta District Court as
soon as possible," he told The Jakarta Post.

He decline to elaborate, but said the new facts had never been
revealed in court. (bby)