High-class pimp Hartono admits almost all charges

High-class pimp Hartono admits almost all charges

JAKARTA (JP): Hartono Setyawan, the most well-known panderer
in the country, confessed to almost every charge made by the
prosecutor in his trial at the South Jakarta District Court
yesterday.

In the court session led by Judge Stephanus Sutrisno, Hartono
admitted that the rates he charged clients to spend time with his
call girls were Rp 750,000 (US$343) for three hours and Rp 1.5
million for overnight. He admitted to taking half of their income.

However, Hartono said that he never ordered his call girls to
have sex with their clients.

"I only told them to offer the best service to their clients
and to be a companion for talking, dining, dancing or whatever.
They did not have to go to bed with their customers," he said.

He claimed he never asked his girls to sign contracts, and
that he was the only person responsible for their recruitment.

Hartono said he interviewed all the women who wanted to work
for him. Their education background was also important to him, he
said.

According to the testimony of his assistant, Kho Ghay Goen,
Hartono had never had problems getting girls to work for him.
"There were lots of women who came to the house to apply for a
job," he said.

Gunawan said that after being recruited some of the girls even
took the initiative to have cosmetic surgery done to make
themselves more attractive.

"Sometimes I couldn't recognize a girl whose nose or face had
been remodeled," he said.

Gunawan also said that the call girls were rotated between
Hartono's other brothels in Bandung in West Java, Surabaya in
East Java and Bali.

"But the decision of who went to the other cities was not
determined by Hartono. It was the girls themselves who decided
where they wanted to go," he said.

Gunawan, 39, said that he was recruited by the alleged pimp
five years ago as a driver, then gradually he was promoted to
being in charge of Hartono's Jakarta brothel.

In the previous session, two of Hartono's prostitutes and
their clients submitted their affidavits to the court, stating
that they were working for Hartono when the police apprehended
them on July 23.

A Guardian

The prostitutes, Nova Novianti and Natalia Risani, said in
their written testimonies that Hartono was acting as their
"guardian".

Nova, 20, said she was caught by police while she was
soliciting at the Century Park Hotel. She said she operated at
the hotel on a regular basis with 13 other prostitutes.

Hartono, 42, has a long-standing reputation as a notorious
panderer running high-class call girls.

He was arrested on July 27, at his mansion in the Pondok Indah
in South Jakarta.

He was reportedly hiding behind a cupboard in his bedroom when
police officers arrested him. He gave no resistance when he was
handcuffed and whisked away.

Hartono was apprehended following the arrest of six occupants
of a well known high-class brothel on Jl. Prapanca Raya, South
Jakarta.

The six persons are the three prostitutes and Kho Ghay Goen,
alias Gunawan, Hartono's assistant; Hamzah, a receptionist, and
Ari Dewanto, the driver of a minivan used as transportation for
the call girls.

Hartono was arrested in 1986 for running a house of
prostitution at the "Prapanca House", a popular name used by his
clients for his brothel.

He was sentenced by the South Jakarta District Court to eight
months imprisonment at the time. The verdict was later overruled
by the Jakarta High Court, which then sentenced him to two years
probation.

The court session was adjourned until Nov. 17, to hear the
testimony of several more witnesses.(mas)