Tommy Soeharto's case goes to Supereme Court for review
Tommy Soeharto's case goes to Supereme Court for review
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Prosecutors opposed on Monday an attempt by Hutomo "Tommy"
Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, to
overturn his murder conviction and 15-year prison sentence on the
grounds of fresh evidence.
But for the sake of procedures, presiding judge Ridwan Mansur
forwarded the case to the Supreme Court, who will have the final
say on Tommy's request.
Prosecutor Hasan Madani concluded that the previous hearing at
the Cilacap District Court in Central Java failed to produce new
evidence, including testimony by witnesses presented by the
convict.
During the earlier hearing in Cilacap, Tommy's lawyers John
Kennedy Aziz and Dwi Sarjono presented five witnesses who,
according to them, would throw new light into the case that
favored the convict.
The witnesses were a cleaning boy at the Cemara Apartments,
Asep Sarifudin, Cemara Apartment manager Beni M. Robani, PT
Mampang Nugraha Prima staff member Renaldi, housemaid Slamet
Sukma Jaya and forensic expert Abdul Munim Idris of the
University of Indonesia.
The new evidence was expected to disprove the charges that
Tommy had kept weapons in his apartment. It highlighted the
discovery of hair at the house which was not Tommy's.
The cleaning boy told the Cilacap court that there were no
weapons at Tommy's residence, while the forensic expert said that
hair and nail samples found in the apartment belonged to someone
whose blood type was different from Tommy's.
Tommy was sentenced to 15 years in prison for ordering the
murder of Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita who had sentenced him
to jail for graft,
According to the law, a convict making a request for a
sentence review to the Supreme Court must submit new evidence to
the district court that heard the case. The district court will
then examine the new evidence.
Legal observers warned of flaws in Tommy's verdict that could
prompt the Supreme Court to overturn it.
One of the loopholes was the fact that police failed to secure
a warrant before seizing firearms and ammunition believed to be
owned by Tommy from different locations.
Evidence is invalid if it is seized without a warrant.
Tommy announced soon after his conviction in August last year
that he would not appeal the prison term but stressed that he
would consider other legal options "taking into account the
political situation in the country".
He is currently being held at the Batu Penitentiary on
Nusakambangan Island, Central Java. The prison island is under
the jurisdiction of Cilacap District Court.