Tommy involved in firearms possession: Witness
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A prosecution witness in the trial of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra confirmed on Wednesday the later's involvement in the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition last year.
"I carried two packages, which I recognized to contain weapons, together with Bu Hetty," witness Sainah told the court referring to another defendant in the case.
Sainah, a maid of Hetty Siti Hartika, who was the manager of the Soeharto family-owned Cemara Apartment complex in Central Jakarta, also confirmed that there was another weapon in Hetty's private room.
Hetty was sentenced to four-years imprisonment in the same case by the Central Jakarta District Court earlier this year.
Sainah also acknowledged that Tommy had stayed in the apartment a day before the police raided it on Aug. 5, 2001 to search for Tommy, the defendant, who was then on the run.
"Pak Tommy always slept in a room on the second floor of the apartment block. He came to the apartment three times while I worked there," said the maid referring to the son of former president Soeharto.
When prosecutor Hasan Madani asked her why she did not report the fugitive's presence to the police, Sainah replied,"Bu Hetty instructed me not to tell anyone (about Tommy)".
The elementary school drop-out silenced Tommy's lawyers, including Elza Syarief, Juan Felix Tampubolon, Indriyanto Seno Adjie, M. Assegaf and O.C. Kaligis, with her frank answers.
"You didn't see the defendant in the apartment yourself, did you? It was Hetty who told you about him, was it not?" asked Juan.
"No, I saw him myself on Saturday (Aug. 4 last year)," Sainah replied in a tremulous voice to applause from spectators.
Presiding Judge Amiruddin Zakaria told Sainah not to be afraid to tell the truth to the court. He also ordered Tommy's lawyers not to make judgments on the witness's answers.
Sainah's answers contradicted Hetty's testimony earlier in the day.
Hetty had denied almost all her earlier statements incriminating Tommy, although she admitted that she had signed the statements in the presence of her lawyer, Suhardi Somomoelyono.
Hetty accused the police of coercing and injuring her during questioning. She claimed that the late Wiyono, one of Tommy's employees in the apartment complex, was the true owner of the weapons.
Wiyono was a former presidential guard while Tommy's father, Soeharto, was president. The retired Army officer died on Aug. 29 last year while in detention at Jakarta Police Headquarters. He was arrested on Aug. 10 for his alleged involvement with the firearms.
The police said that he died of a heart attack. But the mysterious nature of his death and the fact that no autopsy was conducted on his body has spurred speculation that he was poisoned.
During the three hours of questioning, Hetty who is now an inmate of the Pondok Bambu Women's Penitentiary, earned the ire of the panel of judges for giving contradictory answers. This was similar to a court session two weeks ago when she was admonished by the panel of judges for the same reason.
Clad in a batik shirt, Tommy denied Sainah's testimony but accepted Hetty's.
Tommy went on trial on Wednesday on four charges, including the murder of Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita on July 26 of last year.
He is also accused of the illegal possession of firearms in the Cemara Apartment complex and the Pondok Indah area, as well as absconding from justice.