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