Tommy fails to testify for second time

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra failed to testify for the second time in the hearing of his accomplice Dody Hardjito, who is charged with the murder of Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita.

Chief prosecutor Ismanto also failed to present four other witnesses, including another accomplice of Tommy, Hetty Siti Hartika, who were scheduled to testify at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.

Hetty was sick, Ismanto said. But he did not explain why Tommy and three other witnesses, local residents of the Kemayoran area who witnessed Syafiuddin's murder, were absent. And the judges did not seem to bother about their absence.

Presiding Judge Tusani Djafri then ordered Ismanto to read the dossiers of Hetty and the Kemayoran residents.

The prosecutor was told to summon Tommy for the next hearing on Tuesday.

"If he fails to come, we will proceed with the examination of the defendant," the judge said.

Ismanto said last week that Tommy could not attend Dody's hearing due to security reasons.

Dody was accused of helping Tommy in the murder of Syafiuddin, one of the judges who sentenced Tommy to 18 months in jail for graft.

Tommy is being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court for masterminding the murder. -- JP