Police to summon Tommy's family members soon
Police to summon Tommy's family members soon
JAKARTA (JP): National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf
said on Wednesday that police would summon Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala
Putra's family for questioning in the hope of finding clues as to
where the country's most wanted fugitive is hiding.
"We will summon them tomorrow (Thursday) or the day after
(Friday)," Saleh said at the National Police Headquarters.
Saleh said the people who would be summoned included his wife
Ardhia Pramesti Rigita Cahyani and his eldest sister Siti
Hardijanti Rukmana.
On Wednesday, police questioned Tommy's lawyers, Elza Syarif,
Bob Hasibuan and Nudirman Munir, over their client's
disappearance.
Like Tommy's former lawyer Erman Umar, who was questioned on
Monday, the lawyers insisted that they did not know Tommy's
whereabouts.
Separately, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
Security Affairs Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on
Wednesday that the government's credibility would be harmed if
police failed to arrest Tommy soon.
Speaking to journalists after hosting a coordinating meeting
on political and security affairs, Susilo said if Tommy's safety
was threatened while he serves his incarceration he could seek
assistance from police.
"Protection is given to everybody, including convicts.
Therefore, I refuse to accept that as a reason for Tommy not
immediately doing his sentence," Susilo said.
Tommy went into hiding as prosecutors were about to
incarcerate him last week.
The youngest son of former president Soeharto was found guilty
of graft in a land exchange deal which caused the state Rp 76.7
billion in losses.
Head of South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office Antasari Azhar said
his office was continuing listing Tommy's private assets which
could be further seized as collateral for his personal obligation
to compensate the state losses which, according to the court,
amounts to Rp 30.6 billion.
"We're now looking for his private property in Indonesia that
we can take to secure the execution to pay the state loss," he
said.
"If any of Tommy's heirs are willing to pay for him, then we
will return all the property we seized," Antasari said.
He said Tommy's wife's refusal to sign the seizure notice of
the couple's residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday
would not hamper his office's efforts.
"Those who oppose this action may try to pursue any legal
recourse they wish. We found out that Tommy has owned the house
since 1982, long before he got married in 1997," Antasari said.
Antasari further said that from a gross appraisal of the
estimated 2,000-square-meter residence seized on Tuesday, its
value was not equivalent to the amount of the state losses.
Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, legal expert Satjipto Rahardjo
rebuked the Attorney General's Office and police for letting
Tommy "escape".
Satjipto noted that the latest debacle was a further sign that
no significant change had been shown by government officials in
the current era of reform.
"Their performance is not different from their performance 10
years ago," said the Semarang-based Diponegoro University legal
expert.
Satjipto warned that failure to arrest Tommy could lead to
mass distrust among people toward the government, noting that the
government was racing against the people's patience.
"People's hunger for justice can only be symbolically
satisfied with the arrest of Tommy," he said. (02/44/jaw/bby)