Tommy to appear on Monday, ready to serve time: Lawyer
Tommy to appear on Monday, ready to serve time: Lawyer
JAKARTA (JP): Former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra will appear at the prosecutor's office on
Monday to be taken to Cipinang prison to begin serving his 18-
month jail term for corruption, his lawyer said on Saturday.
"I have been informed that Tommy will be ready, with his
lawyers, to appear at the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office on
Monday at about 9 a.m.," Tommy's lawyer Erman Umar told The
Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.
Tommy went missing after an arrest warrant was issued on
Friday and was declared a fugitive.
Erman denied, however, suggestions that Tommy had tried to
flee.
"I cannot confirm whether he was out of town or not
yesterday (Friday) ... that is possible ... but what I can say
right now is that he was not trying to escape," Erman said.
"I have been informed that as of Saturday afternoon he (Tommy)
is in Jakarta," he added.
Erman said Tommy left his residence in Menteng, Central
Jakarta, on Friday because "as of 2 p.m. my client had not
received a copy of the presidential decree".
Erman was referring to President Abdurrahman Wahid's rejection
of a clemency appeal by his client.
Tommy's lawyers have repeatedly claimed that the execution of
the jail sentence could only be implemented if a copy of the
presidential decree was in their client's hands.
Tommy and his business partner Ricardo Gelael were sentenced
to 18 months in jail in late September when the Supreme Court
overturned two lower court verdicts and found them guilty of
corruption in a land scam.
Ricardo surrendered to authorities on Friday night and began
serving his 18-month sentence.
Tommy has denied any wrongdoing and has filed an appeal
against the verdict, which overturned his acquittal in a lower
court several months earlier.
An arrest warrant was issued on Friday after a last minute
glitch in paperwork. However, prosecutors and police found no
sign of Tommy when they arrived at his residence.
Earlier in the day, President Abdurrahman Wahid called on the
public to remain calm following Friday night's failure to send
Tommy to prison.
"President Abdurrahman Wahid appeals for public patience as
the state apparatus are still continuing efforts to find Tommy's
whereabouts and put him in jail," Abdurrahman said in a statement
issued by the presidential secretary's office.
Outside the Cipinang prison on Saturday about 60 former
inmates staged a protest demanding Tommy and Ricardo be given the
same treatment as ordinary prisoners.
If jailed, Tommy will be the first from the Soeharto family to
be put behind bars since his father stepped down in May 1998.
Tommy, along with his five siblings, controls some of the
country's biggest conglomerates, which were allegedly obtained by
using their father's power prior to his fall.(01/byg)
JAKARTA (JP): Former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra will appear at the prosecutor's office on
Monday to be taken to Cipinang prison to begin serving his 18-
month jail term for corruption, his lawyer said on Saturday.
"I have been informed that Tommy will be ready, with his
lawyers, to appear at the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office on
Monday at about 9 a.m.," Tommy's lawyer Erman Umar told The
Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.
Tommy went missing after an arrest warrant was issued on
Friday and was declared a fugitive.
Erman denied, however, suggestions that Tommy had tried to
flee.
"I cannot confirm whether he was out of town or not
yesterday (Friday) ... that is possible ... but what I can say
right now is that he was not trying to escape," Erman said.
"I have been informed that as of Saturday afternoon he (Tommy)
is in Jakarta," he added.
Erman said Tommy left his residence in Menteng, Central
Jakarta, on Friday because "as of 2 p.m. my client had not
received a copy of the presidential decree".
Erman was referring to President Abdurrahman Wahid's rejection
of a clemency appeal by his client.
Tommy's lawyers have repeatedly claimed that the execution of
the jail sentence could only be implemented if a copy of the
presidential decree was in their client's hands.
Tommy and his business partner Ricardo Gelael were sentenced
to 18 months in jail in late September when the Supreme Court
overturned two lower court verdicts and found them guilty of
corruption in a land scam.
Ricardo surrendered to authorities on Friday night and began
serving his 18-month sentence.
Tommy has denied any wrongdoing and has filed an appeal
against the verdict, which overturned his acquittal in a lower
court several months earlier.
An arrest warrant was issued on Friday after a last minute
glitch in paperwork. However, prosecutors and police found no
sign of Tommy when they arrived at his residence.
Earlier in the day, President Abdurrahman Wahid called on the
public to remain calm following Friday night's failure to send
Tommy to prison.
"President Abdurrahman Wahid appeals for public patience as
the state apparatus are still continuing efforts to find Tommy's
whereabouts and put him in jail," Abdurrahman said in a statement
issued by the presidential secretary's office.
Outside the Cipinang prison on Saturday about 60 former
inmates staged a protest demanding Tommy and Ricardo be given the
same treatment as ordinary prisoners.
If jailed, Tommy will be the first from the Soeharto family to
be put behind bars since his father stepped down in May 1998.
Tommy, along with his five siblings, controls some of the
country's biggest conglomerates, which were allegedly obtained by
using their father's power prior to his fall.(01/byg)