Slain judge's wife says Tommy tried to bribe her hushband

JAKARTA (JP): An investigation into the murder of Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita has revealed that the fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra had once offered the judge billions of rupiah in return for ruling in his favor in a corruption case.

One of Syafiuddin's widows, Iwa Setiawati, admitted on Saturday that Tommy, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, had offered the money through his lawyers.

"But Bapak rejected the offer as he really did not want to be bribed," Iwa, a witness in the case, told reporters during a break in police questioning at Jakarta Police headquarters, as quoted by Antara.

Syafiuddin, who was shot dead on July 26, had two wives, Soimah and Iwa.

Soimah lives in Sunter, North Jakarta, while Iwa lives in Cipayung, East Jakarta. Syafiuddin was shot on his way to work from his house in Sunter by the suspects Mulawarman and Noval Hadad, both of whom are now in police custody.

Iwa said that in September or October 2000, Nudirman Munir, one of Tommy's lawyers, offered her husband Rp 2 billion (US$210,526) as a down payment if Syafiuddin was willing to meet Tommy in Cipayung. But, Syafiuddin rejected it.

On a separate occasion in October 2000, another of Tommy's lawyers, Bob R.E. Nasution offered some Rp 5 billion to Syafiuddin, which was again rejected, she said.

But Syafiuddin agreed to meet Tommy without any payment being made at his house in Cipayung, where Tommy asked Syafiuddin to "pay attention" to his case, she said.

Iwa, who has three children from Syafiuddin, said Tommy was accompanied by another lawyer, Elza Syarief, and the latter's husband, identified as Kenny, along with two other persons who waited in the car.

She also said that Tommy's younger sister Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih, known as Mamiek, also visited her husband over a case involving Soeharto.

Iwa said that she had made her statement to Jakarta Police to clarify earlier media reports saying that she had been offered Rp 20 billion by Tommy.

"The reports are untrue. As the second wife (of Syafiuddin), I don't want to be bought ... I didn't want to accept the money," Iwa said.

Separately, lawyer Nudirman denied offering Syafiuddin bribes.

In a related development, during a raid in Cemara Apartments, Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Aug. 6, Central Jakarta police officers reportedly also seized gold bars and jewelry worth trillions of rupiah, besides arresting the apartments' manager Hetty Siti Hartika.

But the police reportedly returned the gold bars and jewelry to the Soeharto's, a step which was regretted by some detectives at Jakarta Police headquarters.

Jakarta Police officials were unavailable for comment on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a source said that police were using the services of a paranormal to hunt the young businessman. Following the advice of the paranormal that Tommy was hiding in a housing complex in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, the police raided the house but found nothing, the source said on Sunday. (jun)