Legal loopholes haunt Tommy's investigation

Legal loopholes haunt Tommy's investigation

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the euphoria over Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's arrest
settles, the burning question now is whether police, and
eventually prosecutors, will have a water-tight case to bring
against him.

Experience over the past three years has shown that the bigger
the name, the more complex the crime and the greater the
loopholes.

One of Tommy's lawyers, Elza Syarief, claimed they had not had
time to prepare anything specific as investigations were ongoing.

"Right now we're still accompanying him in the interrogation
and keeping an eye out for things we could later use for our
defense," she said.

One frequent occurrence in recent high profile cases has been
the defendant's sudden affliction by illness.

Legal expert Ahmad Ali is one of those who believes that, as
the interrogation drags on, Tommy's lawyers will probably claim
that their client's physical condition is failing due to the
marathon questioning.

This would open the possibility of him leaving detention and
moving to a plush hospital room, Ahmad said.

"Tommy must've learnt from the case of Soeharto and business
tycoon Syamsul Nursalim," said Ahmad, who served as an expert
staff member to the late Attorney General Baharuddin Lopa.

"For lawyers this is also effective for buying time," he
added.

Tommy's lawyers have already proven their competence,
including by getting his conviction in the Goro-Bulog scam
overturned.

Apart from possible delaying tactics, they may exploit other
technicalities permitted by the law in the three cases Tommy is
likely to face -- masterminding the murder of Supreme Court
Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, illegal possession of firearms
and masterminding a string of bomb attacks.

Police said that the dossier on the murder case was almost
complete.

But a senior police detective cautioned that witnesses could
easily retract their statements once in court, pointing to Elize
Maria Tuwahatu, who in court had retracted her statement that
Tommy was the one who handed her explosives.

"That's up to judges and prosecutors...Our job is to gather
material evidence. Statements or testimonies are subject to
change," detective Comr. Carlo Tewu said.

Lawyers may also question the manner of Tommy's capture as his
whereabouts were ascertained by intercepting his cell phone
transmissions.

Article 42 of Law No. 36 on Telecommunications states that
authorities can tap telephone conversations as part of their
investigation of alleged crimes carrying a sentence of at least
five years imprisonment.

Tommy was on the run for a year. His initial sentence in the
graft case was only 18 months. It was only later, while in
hiding, that Tommy allegedly committed the graver crimes that
carry a maximum sentence of death.

In apparent anticipation of trouble, National Police chief
Gen. Da'i Bachtiar insisted that police did not intercept any
telephone conversations and relied only on the cellular signals
sent.