Sidiq gets 3 months for extortion

JAKARTA: The head of the Al-Tauhid Islamic boarding school in Kediri, East Java, Abdullah Sidiq Muin, was sentenced to three months imprisonment by the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday after he was found guilty of swindling former president Soeharto's son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra to the tune of Rp 2.9 billion (US$341,177).

Presiding judge Saparudin Hasibuan, who read out the court's verdict, said that Sidiq was guilty of cheating Tommy by promising him a presidential pardon from then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid. Sidiq was helped by Raden Dodi Sumadi, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.

Sidiq had been detained from Jan. 26 to March 5 and now only needed to serve less than a month in prison. He was allowed out of prison on March 5 due to ill health.

Lawyer Budi Santosa said that his client would likely appeal. He said there were no conclusive evidence supporting the charge.

During the trial, prosecutors only showed a photocopy of an agreement dated Oct. 19, 2000, to divide the Rp 15 billion paid by Tommy into four equal parts. The prosecutors failed to show the original agreement, which, Budi said, was against a legal precedent from 1976 ruling that a photocopy could not be treated as original evidence.

Budi also questioned the fact that only four witnesses testified during the trial instead of the planned 16. -- JP