Lawyers call for Tutut's arrest

JAKARTA (JP): Legal experts called upon the police on Sunday to immediately arrest former president Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana for allegedly concealing the whereabouts of her fugitive brother Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

Lawyers Frans Hendra Winarta, a member of the National Legal Commission, Albert Hasibuan from the Movement of Concerned Citizens on State Assets (Gempita) and Hendardi from Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association separately told The Jakarta Post there was sufficient legal grounds for the police to arrest Tutut and detain her.

They strongly criticized the police for their statement that they could not take legal action against Tutut, Tommy's other siblings, or his wife even though they still kept in touch with Tommy, upon the grounds that they were a family.

The police said that they had based their stance on the Criminal Code, which bans the prosecution of anyone for hiding a criminal who is a member of the family.

"This case is different. Tommy is a fugitive. Whoever knows where he is, she or he must report it to the police," Hasibuan said.

At the very least, the police should interrogate Tutut, Tommy's other sisters Siti Hediati Hariyadi Prabowo and Siti Hutami "Mamiek" Endang, as well as his wife Ardhia Pramesti Regita Cahyani, as there were strong indications that they still kept in touch with Tommy, he said.

The three lawyers alleged that the police lacked the courage to interrogate them, let alone arrest them, because they might be backed up by high-ranking military officials.

They said it would be better for both National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro and Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb to resign if they were afraid to take legal action against Tutut and the others.

"They should be replaced by officers who are more capable, more serious (in hunting for Tommy) and more professional," Hendardi said.

Early on Sunday morning, police officers were seen checking motorists passing near the Jl. Cendana area where the Soeharto's reside in an effort to find the fugitive Tommy.

The police earlier offered a reward -- at first only Rp 25 million, but increased the next day to Rp 500 million -- for those who could give information on the fugitive.

They also dropped pictures of Tommy in his latest guise from a helicopter.

Hasibuan said that the police were not really serious in their efforts to arrest Tommy.

"Actually, what they have done so far has been just putting on a show of force. This is done as a camouflage for the fact that in reality they are not serious," Hasibuan said.

Tommy is the main suspect behind the murder of Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita and the series of bombings that has rocked the city and many other parts of the country.

Syafiuddin was a member of a panel of judges that sentenced Tommy to 18-months imprisonment for corruption in a 1996 land- swap deal between the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and his former wholesale firm PT Goro Batara Sakti.

Shortly after the decision was announced late in 2000, Tommy disappeared.

Last Monday, a police team found hundreds of explosive devices, firearms and various other items of evidence in a house on Jl. Alam Segar III in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, which was believed to have been rented by Tommy.

On that same night, Sofjan declared Tommy a suspect in the bombings and ordered him to surrender within three days.

The three lawyers interviewed by the Post shared the opinion that from the very beginning, the police had been making all the wrong moves.

"They suspected that the family knew where Tommy is. But they did not immediately interrogate them. Now it is almost too late, but if the police had the guts, they could still do it," Hasibuan said.

He added that the police should also have questioned Tommy's lawyer Nurdiman Munir, and Elza Syarief, Tutut's lawyer, as suspects if Tommy had contacted them from his hideout. (sim)