Tommy lays down conditions for his court testimony in Sidiq Muin's trial
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, currently serving time for various crimes, refused to appear on Tuesday at the Central Jakarta District Court to testify in the trial of Islamic boarding school leader Abdullah Sidiq Muin.
In a letter to the prosecutors -- which was sent through Tommy's lawyer Elza Syarief last week -- Tommy said that he would not attend the trial on Sidiq, who has been charged with fraud and extortion, because he believed Raden Dodi Sumadi was the real culprit in extorting Rp 15 billion (US$1.76million) from him.
"But he (the witness) had said to prosecutors that he would appear in the next hearing," prosecutor Yunan Harjaka told the court after reading the letter.
Tommy is now serving a 15-year prison term in Batu Penitentiary on Nusakambangan Island, Cilacap, Central Java, for illegal arms possession and masterminding the murder of Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita who sentenced him to 18 months in jail over a graft case in 2000.
It was the graft case, which took place in 1995, that prompted Tommy to seek clemency from then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
Dodi, who claimed to be a close ally of Gus Dur, asked for the money, which Tommy claimed was given in U.S. banknotes, to help arrange meetings between Tommy and the former president at the Regent and Borobudur hotels in October 2000.
Tommy's appeal for clemency was rejected, so he fled and was on the run until November 2001.
The money was reportedly split into three equal parts; for the Puan Amal Hayati Foundation belonging to Gus Dur's wife Sinta Nuriyah, the At-Tauhid Islamic boarding school in Kediri, East Java, led by Sidiq, and to pay the meetings' expenses.
Dodi, who fled following Tommy's arrest, was arrested at his house in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, on Jan. 25, 2002.
Although the investigation began in 2001, the trial on Sidiq, who is known as Mbah Diq, the spiritual advisor of Gus Dur, only started last October while Dodi has yet to stand trial.
The delay in Dody's prosecution was not the only reason for Tommy's no-show in court. In the letter, Tommy also said that he would appear in court only if security measures for him were relaxed.
"I will testify, only if there are fewer policemen guarding me on the way to Jakarta. It is the police that bother me the most. I would not run away," he said, adding that he would not mind being escorted by the prosecutors or prison guards.
Many legal observers believed that the case, which was filed by Tommy's lawyers while he was on the run, was merely a legal decoy to muddle the police investigation of Tommy by dragging other high-profile people into the case.
Presiding Judge Saparudin Hasibuan adjourned the trial to Nov. 18 to hear testimony from Tommy.