Tommy hullabaloo taking the spotlight off Buloggate II

JAKARTA (JP): The latest installment in the high-profile detention of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra centered on Saturday on the visit of his two elder sisters to Jakarta Police Headquarters and efforts by his lawyers to drag former president Abdurrahman Wahid into the drama.

Wearing a brown head scarf, Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Indra Rukmana and her younger sister Siti Hutami "Mamiek" Adiningsih, in dark green attire, went to the Jakarta Police Headquarters to seek permission to visit Tommy.

But they were denied access to their brother, a suspect in the murder of Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita.

"We hope police will allow us to visit him next week," Tutut told reporters after meeting Jakarta Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Adang Rochjana.

Police said Tommy could not be visited, even by his family members, as he was being questioned by police investigators.

Tommy was taken from his cell for his fourth session of questioning on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. His lawyer Elza Syarif arrived at 10:15.

Elza was reluctant to provide details of the questioning.

She, nevertheless, confirmed that the questions posed by investigators centered around her client's meetings with former President Abdurrahman Wahid at The Regent Hotel and Borobudur Hotel.

Another of Tommy's lawyers, Nurdirman Munir, separately said that the police should consider questioning former president Abdurrahman Wahid as the latter was believed to have met Tommy and made a deal with him prior to his escape.

"The court has brought former president Soeharto to trial, why can't they do the same with Gus Dur," he said, referring to Abdurrahman.

Tommy reportedly met Gus Dur to discuss the possibility of a presidential pardon over his conviction in the land-swap case involving his Goro Batara Sakti retail chain and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Rumors had it that Tommy had bribed the former president for Rp 15 billion, but Abdurrahman denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb said that Abdurrahman would be summoned for clarification once the investigation into the murder of Justice Syafiuddin was completed.

"Sure, we'll be summoning him," Sofjan told reporters.

Meanwhile, communications expert Tjipta Lesmana warned that the media fanfare over Tommy's arrest and questioning would only benefit former ruling party Golkar and its chairman Akbar Tandjung, allegedly involved in the misuse of Rp 40 billion in Bulog funds.

The Tommy case, Tjipta said, could overshadow investigations into the Bulog graft case, dubbed as Buloggate II.

"This might be a scenario setup. I just want to say that there are some coincidences. When the Bulog case and the change of police chief were in the spotlight, then came this arrest," he said.