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

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)