Police to question Tommy's lawyers

Police to question Tommy's lawyers

JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro said
on Saturday that Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's defense lawyers
would be questioned on Monday in connection with their client's
whereabouts.

"Police will summon Tommy's lawyers on Monday. They will be
quizzed, among other things, over whether they intend not to hand
Tommy over," Bimantoro told journalists after seeing off
President Abdurrahman Wahid who headed for the summit of the
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Doha, Qatar.

The defense team of the youngest son of former president
Soeharto maintained last week that they would not surrender their
client unless the prosecutors gave them certified copies of the
presidential decree which rejected Tommy's plea for pardon.

However, when the prosecutors eventually sent the certified
copies, Tommy went into hiding and the lawyers claim not to know
his whereabouts.

Later, they said Tommy would only present himself for
execution of his sentence if the government could provide a
security guarantee while serving his term in the Cipinang
penitentiary.

The defense lawyers are Tommy's racing buddy Bob R.E.
Nasution, L.L.M. Samosir, Nudirman Munir and Erman Umar. The
latter however, resigned after Tommy disregarded his advice to
surrender.

On Friday evening, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said his
office, in cooperation with the police, would question those who
were thought to know Tommy's whereabouts, including his lawyers
and family.

He said that all places believed to be Tommy's old haunts were
under police surveillance.

The police have widened their search worldwide with the help
of Interpol days after Tommy was declared fugitive on Nov. 3. The
search so far has been fruitless.

"I will do whatever is necessary to get him," Bimantoro said
on Saturday.

Bimantoro, once adjutant to Tommy's father, has called on
Tommy to surrender himself.

Tommy and his business associate, Ricardo Gelael, were
sentenced by the Supreme Court to 18 months in prison for causing
losses to the state of some Rp 76.7 billion losses in the 1995
land swap scam with the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

The verdict which was issued on Sept. 22 overturned the South
Jakarta District Court's decision which exonerated the two of all
charges.

Ricardo surrendered himself to the prosecutors last Friday to
start serving his jail term.

Erman Umar, who is also lawyer for the suspects in the East
Timor human rights abuse case, has announced his withdrawal from
Tommy's defense team.

"I tendered my resignation on Nov. 8 to be effective if Tommy
remained missing for another two days. I am officially no longer
his lawyer from this morning onward," he told The Jakarta Post on
Saturday.

He said that his colleagues did not mind his resignation and
added that some of them might follow suit.

Despite his previous position on Tommy's defense team, Erman
pledged cooperation with the police and prosecutors to find
Tommy.

"If I am summoned for questioning, I'm ready to tell the
police all I know about Tommy. I still have the moral obligation
to do so although I'm no longer his lawyer," he said.

Nudirman also expressed his willingness to face the inquiry as
he has nothing to worry about.

"I have never tried to prevent the authorities from arresting
Tommy. I know I'm not guilty for all I have done was in
accordance with the law. If I said I don't know where Tommy is, I
have told you the truth.

"Moreover, if the authorities fail to reach a consent with
Tommy for the incarceration or they are unable to find my client,
that is not my business...mine only deals with legal matters," he
told the Post.

Nudirman admitted that the last time he saw Tommy was when
they waited until 3 a.m. on Nov. 3 for the certified copy of the
presidential decree rejecting Tommy's appeal.

He also said he respected Erman's decision to quit the team.

"Actually, our duties automatically ended since the pardon was
rejected. But if Erman also quits from our efforts for a review
into Tommy's case then it's his decision," Nudirman said.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf said the
summons for questioning the lawyers had not been issued since the
Attorney General's Office had not officially requested it. (bby)