Lawyers call for Tutut's arrest

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)