Three men jailed for working for brothel

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court sentenced three assistants of Hartono Setyawan, the alleged owner of a high-class brothel, to five months and seven months imprisonment for their involvement in pandering.

In a court session yesterday, Judge Stephanus Sutrisno sentenced Kho Ghay Goen, Hartono's right-hand man, to seven months in jail while Hamzah, the receptionist of the brothel, and Ari Dewanto, a driver working there, were sentenced to five months imprisonment.

Prosecutor Eko Siwi Irianti had demanded Kho Ghay Goen be sentenced to nine months in jail, while prosecutor Esther Datu Rante asked the judge to sentence Ari and Hamzah to seven months in prison each.

Stephanus said the three men had been proven guilty for helping Hartono in his prostitution business.

However, the judge also said that because they had no prior police record and had answered frankly during the court examination, he had decided to sentence them to five months and seven months imprisonment.

According to the Criminal Code any person found guilty of procuring prostitutes faces a maximum prison sentence of one year and four months.

Kho Ghay Goen is expected to be released from prison in February 1995, while Ari and Hamzah are scheduled to be released at the end of this month. The three were arrested on July 24.

During yesterday's session, the court was surprised as Hartono arrived at the courtroom in the company of a lawyer. Hartono had not been represented by a lawyer before.

Prosecutor Rotua Marpaung has asked the presiding judge to sentence Hartono to 12 months imprisonment for running a prostitution business.

The lawyer, Hadi Mulyono Upas, lives in Semarang, Central Java. The lawyer refused to comment to reporters about his presence.

"I asked the honorable judge to adjourn my client's trial a few days to prepare my defense statement," lawyer Hadi said.

Judge Sutrisno only granted the lawyer one day to prepare his defense statement due to the objection of the prosecutor, Rotua Marpaung. The trial continues today.

Hartono has a long-standing reputation as a panderer employing high-class call girls. He was arrested on July 27 at his mansion in the Pondok Indah housing complex in South Jakarta.

Hartono was picked up following the arrest at the Century Park Hotel, Central Jakarta, of six occupants of the house on Jl. Prapanca 4, South Jakarta, which is widely known as a brothel.

The six people taken into custody were Kho Ghay Goen, Hamzah, Ari Dewanto and three known prostitutes, Nova Novianti, Natalia Risani and Nunuk Sriyanti, who allegedly worked for Hartono.

Nova Novianti and Natalia Risani, whose statements were presented as written testimony in a previous trial session on Nov. 2, said that Hartono was acting as their guardian when they were captured on July 23.

Hartono acknowledged during the trial that he charged clients Rp 750,000 (US$343) for three hours with his girls and Rp 1.5 million for overnight. He said he took half of the women's earnings.

Hartono also said he never ordered his "employees" to offer sexual services to clients. "It was more like an escort service, or guide service," he said.

Hartono was arrested in 1986 for running a brothel at the "Prapanca House", the name used by his clients for his place of business.

He was sentenced by the South Jakarta District Court to eight months imprisonment at that time. The verdict was later overruled by the Jakarta High Court, which sentenced him to two years probation. (mas)