Police to query media expert on Tommy story

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police is scheduled to "interview" multimedia expert Roy Suryo in connection with a cover story of a local magazine on fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

"This interview with Roy Suryo will not take the form of an interrogation or formal police questioning. The police simply want to clarify what has been written in the cover story of Forum Keadilan magazine," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi told reporters at the National Police Headquarters.

Didi said the magazine's most recent cover story, titled "Tommy Is Still In Jakarta", implies that Roy had given information to the magazine about Tommy's presence in the capital.

"I myself have called up Roy and spoken to him personally. He told me that he never gave any confidential police document of Tommy's whereabouts to the magazine. He's quite disappointed about the whole affair, and has told me he'll fully cooperate with the police," he told reporters.

The youngest son of former president Soeharto, Tommy, a 38- year-old businessman, has been on the run since last November. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail for corruption last September.

Since his escape, the National Police have broken into the floor of Tommy's Menteng residence in Central Jakarta looking for hidden tunnels and have formed at least two special teams to track down the fugitive, but have failed to come up with any trace of him.

Before disappearing, Tommy met President Abdurrahman Wahid in a hotel in Central Jakarta, triggering speculation that he had tried to strike a deal to avoid serving time behind bars. Abdurrahman, who admitted meeting Tommy, denied any agreement was struck. (ylt)