Hetty's trial postponed

Hetty's trial postponed

JAKARTA: The Central Jakarta District Court failed on Tuesday
to hear testimony from witnesses against Hetty Siti Hartika, who
is facing charges of illegal possession of firearms and
ammunition, and is a close friend of the fugitive Hutomo "Tommy"
Mandala Putra.

Presiding Judge Musa Simatupang decided to recess the trial of
the defendant until next week in view of the fact that the
prosecution had failed to present evidence before the hearing
corroborating the testimony the witnesses were due to give.

The two witnesses were present in court for the hearing.

After the hearing, prosecutor Resni Muchtar insisted that the
police were responsible for the failure to present the evidence
in court.

"It's not our fault," she told The Jakarta Post.

Hetty, a manager of the Cemara Apartments in Central Jakarta,
was arrested on Aug. 4 during a police raid to search for Tommy.
The police found firearms and ammunition, jewelry and several
gold bars worth US$600,000 during the raid.

Hetty admitted during the preliminary investigation that she
had obtained the firearms from Tommy earlier this year.

The police suspect that the firearms may have been used to
kill Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who
sentenced Tommy to 18-months imprisonment for his alleged
involvement in a land swap scandal involving the State Logistics
Agency (Bulog). --JP