'Money can buy court verdicts'

The Central Jakarta District Court finally handed down the verdict for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra without the presence of the defendant, who claimed to be sick. Several people share their cynical views on the case and on the judiciary in general.

Iskandar, 20, a hawker on city buses, who comes from Lampung and has been living in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, since 1994.

Tommy's long and useless trial was a joke. If he respected the court, he would have attended every session of the trial, instead of making excuses to skip it. He should have known the schedule.

I'm sure that if the defendant was an average street criminal, law enforcers would have either forced him to attend the court or shot him dead without a trial. But, Tommy is exceptional compared to the average crook.

Wealthy people can buy the court's verdict, and most do, right?

A friend of mine was tried for deception last year, involving less than Rp 5 million. He was sentenced to two years in prison because when the judges asked him to pay money in return for his freedom, he could not afford it.

But, in Tommy's case, I predict he will go free or at least be given a lenient punishment.

Money is more powerful than justice, after all.

Waji, 35, a vendor who has been selling soft drinks near Senayan Sports stadium in Central Jakarta for more than 10 years. He lives in Karet, South Jakarta, with his wife and daughter.

Tommy can't attend court? Well, that's just a joke. He is very rich and can do anything he likes.

He has committed many crimes, so I think he deserves at least a life sentence. I would prefer it if he received the death sentence. He deserves it, doesn't he?

Only someone like Tommy could manage to flee justice and freely wander around the city, despite his crimes. He gets privileges that excuse him, which others street criminals do not enjoy.

Ngadino, 50, a bakso (meatball soup) seller on Jl. Jend. Sudirman for more than 30 years. He comes from Sukoharjo, Central Java, but now resides with his wife and three children in Bendungan Hilir, South Jakarta.

If Tommy is given a light sentence, it will be offensive to the public's sense of justice, as it is unfair compared to the harsh punishments handed out to lower-class bandits.

He deserves more than 15 years in prison. Of course, the most appropriate punishment for him would be a life sentence, which would hopefully make him redeem his crimes.

The longer the sentence, the better, because he is deemed a high-class culprit.

Retno, a marketing officer at a private bank, who lives in Cawang, East Jakarta.

It is obvious that Tommy's trial has been engineered to his favor. He has frequently hampered the process by making unreasonable excuses to skip hearings and buy time.

Worse still, judges and other honorable law enforcers have deliberately allowed him to get away with these excuses.

So, I think Tommy should be give the maximum sentence. What he has done is far from being ethical and it has badly hurt other people.

But, I honestly feel a bit pessimistic about the judges' commitment to sentence him severely. Don't forget, he still has a huge amount of money. Money has the power to buy the court's verdict.

It's no wonder law enforcers find it easy to deceive and make use of the public's ignorance, because the public are not able to directly probe the case. --JP