Mother, son, ex-model tried for harboring Tommy
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
The Tangerang District Court began on Wednesday the trial of a mother, her son and a former model for their alleged involvement in hiding former president Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who was on the run from September 2000 to November 2001.
Prosecutor Puji Rahardjo, who read out his five-page indictment, declared the mother, Rossana Hasan Razak, 55, as the first defendant, her son Bil Haq bin Hasan Razak, 25, as the second defendant and Regina Ursula Sandi Harun, 37, a former model and the ex-wife of businessman Setiawan Djodi, as the third defendant.
The prosecutor said the three defendants had deliberately hidden Tommy, who went on the run after he was sentenced to 18 months in jail in September 2001 for graft.
While Tommy was in hiding, Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, one of the judges who had sentenced him, was shot dead.
Tommy was arrested while he was taking a nap at Rossana's house at Jl. Maleo II, Block JD VII, Sector 9, Bintaro Jaya, Tangerang, on Nov. 28 last year.
Tommy is facing charges of conspiracy to murder Syafiuddin, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition as well as fleeing from justice.
Puji said it was Sandi who first contacted Rossana, a high- ranking Army officer's widow who had known Tommy since 1995, and asked her to use her house as a hiding place for Tommy.
Rossana said she took pity on Tommy after he told her he would be killed in prison if he surrendered to police, and agreed to allow him to use her house as a hiding place, but only for three days.
Rossana then asked her son Bil haq to pick Tommy up on Jl. Raya Pondok Indah in South Jakarta and take him to the house. Tommy then handed Rossana Rp 10 million for rent.
After Sandi dreamed between Nov. 22 and Nov. 27 that Tommy's whereabouts were discovered by police, she told Rossana to persuade Tommy to surrender, but Tommy refused.
On Nov. 28, several plain-clothes police officers arrived at Rossana's house and found Tommy taking a nap in a bedroom.
The prosecutor charged the defendants with violating Articles 55, 64 and 221 of the Criminal Code. The articles carry a maximum punishment of nine months in prison.
The 45-minute session was packed with visitors, journalists and TV cameramen, including 15 women wearing white blouses. One woman, claiming to be Sandi's relative, told The Jakarta Post that they were there to give moral support to Sandi in facing the charges.
Wearing a beige-colored suit and glasses, Sandi said she did not understand the charges and left it all up to her lawyer when the presiding judge, Zainal Arifin, asked her to comment on them.
However, the defense lawyer, Irwan Effendi, said he would prepare counterstatements against the charges and ask the court to present Tommy to testify at the next session. The hearing has been postponed until next Wednesday.
None of the defendants were arrested. Puji Raharjo said Article 221 of the Criminal Code Procedures stipulates that suspects can only be arrested if he or she is facing a maximum five-year prison term.
No charges have been laid against model Lani Banjaranti, former actress Yenny Rachman and several other women close to Tommy for failing to report him to the police, even though they had met him while he was on the run.