Tight security planned for Tommy's trial on March 20

Tight security planned for Tommy's trial on March 20

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The murder trial of former president Soeharto's youngest son,
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, is scheduled to begin on March 20
at the Central Jakarta District Court amid tight security.

Court spokesman Judge Andi Samsan Nganro said that the trial
would be handled by a panel of judges chaired by Amiruddin
Zakaria, with the members being I Ketut Gede and Andi himself.

"We have requested that the police provide security for
Tommy's trial," Andi told reporters on Monday.

The same panel of judges is currently trying Tommy's aides,
Noval Hadad and R. Maulawarman, alias Molla, who are charged in
the murder case of Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin
Kartasasmita.

Tommy, 40, is believed to have masterminded the murder of
Syafiuddin, one of the judges who sentenced him to 18 months in
jail for corruption.

Many believe that the trial will be a test case for reform of
the country's legal system. Soeharto has been charged with graft
before, but the South Jakarta District Court later ruled that he
was too ill to stand trial.

Amiruddin is the judge who sentenced Endin Wahyudin, a witness
who reported a bribery scandal in the Supreme Court, to three
months in jail for defaming two Supreme Court justices.

He had also ordered former president Abdurrahman Wahid to pay
a fine of Rp 500 million to the former secretary general of the
Forestry Ministry, Suripto, in a defamation case.

His colleague, Andi, sentenced four Papuan university students
to nearly four months' imprisonment each for disturbing the peace
at an anti-government rally last year -- instead of toppling the
government, as accused by prosecutors.

Andi had ruled in favor of 43 slum residents -- and against
the Central Jakarta municipality and state-owned railway company
PT KAI -- for failing to evict and relocate the shanty residents
"professionally."

The government appointed Andi, who had written legal articles
in several local magazines and newspapers, as one of ad hoc
judges to try human rights cases.

Ketut ruled in favor of 17 journalists of Moneter Indonesia
newspaper who sued their employer, PT Grafika Medialoka Press, in
a labor dispute.

Tommy is accused of masterminding the murder of Syafiuddin,
who was shot to death on July 26 of last year before he was in
police custody.

He escaped on Nov. 4, 2000, however, after then-president
Abdurrahman Wahid turned down his request for a presidential
pardon, and was arrested again a year later.

Tommy will also be charged with illegal possession of
ammunition and firearms, and for fleeing arrest.

Police officials had earlier accused him of plotting a series
of bombings in the capital and other cities in the country, but
later dropped the charges due to the lack of evidence.

Tommy has been held at the Cipinang Penitentiary in East
Jakarta since Feb. 20.