Hartono denies police officer's testimony

Hartono denies police officer's testimony

JAKARTA (JP): Hartono Setyawan, a pimp for high-class call
girls, rejected the testimony of a police officer in his trial at
South Jakarta District Court yesterday. The officer said that
Hartono was hiding inside a cupboard when the police raided his
house.

"That is not true, I was getting dressed because I knew there
were some people who wanted to see me," said the 42-year-old pimp
as he countered the statement made by First Lt. Djamhari, a
police officer who arrested him at his Pondok Indah mansion on
July 27.

In his testimony Djamhari said that he and three other
officers, First Lt. Nyoman Rana, Sgt. Maj. Janter Naibaho and
First Sgt. Sri Winarno were ordered by his superior, Lt. Col.
Gories Mere, to arrest Hartono at his house.

Djamhari told the presiding judge, Stephanus Sutrisno, that
the team did not have any difficulty making the arrest.

"We were greeted by a guard in a green uniform who said that
his employer was not home, but we did not believe it," Djamhari
said, adding that the guard was not an armed forces officer.

He said that after a chat the guard asked the four officers to
wait but Djamhari and Nyoman Rana followed the guard into the
house instead and started searching for Hartono.

Djamhari said he then assigned Sgt. Sri Winarno and Sgt. Maj.
Janter Naibaho to watch the outside of the house in case Hartono
tried to escape by jumping the fence, while he and the other
officer searched the house. They finally found Hartono inside a
closed wardrobe in his bedroom, Djamhari said.

Cupboard

"I checked the cupboard ten times and I never would have
imagined that the small, skinny white legs were Hartono's. I
thought it was a pair of mannequin's legs," he told some newsmen
after the court session.

Djamhari said that they then took Hartono to the city police
headquarters for further questioning.

Three days before Hartono was arrested the police captured two
of his assistants in his rented house on Jl. Prapanca 4, South
Jakarta, while three prostitutes and a driver were arrested at
Century Park hotel, Central Jakarta.

The two assistants are: Kho Ghay Goen, the pimp's right hand
man, and Hamzah, the brothel's receptionist. The driver, Ari
Dewanto, was arrested while waiting for the call girls in the
hotel parking lot.

The three men are now being tried in the same courthouse.

The prostitutes are Nova Novianti, 20, and Natalia Risani, 24,
who were caught by police while offering their services to guests
at the Century Park Hotel. The third, Nunuk Sriyanti, 31, was
caught on her way to the Jakarta Hilton Hotel.

According to prosecutor Rotua Marpaung, the prosecutor's
office plans to summon the three women as witnesses.

The presiding judge adjourned the court session until Nov. 2.

Hartono was the most notorious pimp of high-class call girls
in the country. He reportedly charged his customers Rp 750,000
(US$343) for three hours service and Rp 1.5 million for 12
hours.(mas)