Tommy's lawyer protests Supreme Court's opinion
Tommy's lawyer protests Supreme Court's opinion
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In her latest legal maneuver, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's
lawyer, Elza Syarief, filed an objection against Chief Justice
Bagir Manan's letter of legal opinion on Thursday, and asked him
to annul the ruling.
In her letter, dated Dec.19, Elza claimed that Bagir's letter,
which said Tommy must serve his jail sentence for last year's
conviction on graft charges, offered no legal authority to the
prosecutors to execute it.
Citing Bagir's statement, Elza argued that, since this was
Supreme Court's legal opinion, no one was bound by it.
Should the prosecutors move forward on the ruling, it would
violate the law by denying Tommy's rights as a free man after the
Supreme Court overturned his conviction in the Goro-Bulog land
scam
"I've sent a letter to the Chief Justice ... and asked him to
annul the letter," Elza told reporters.
Legal expert Achmad Ali of Hassanudin University, meanwhile,
played down the significance of Elza's argument, saying the
prosecutors are the "law executors" -- regardless of whether they
agree or disagree with the legal opinion.
Achmad added that, as an executive body, the prosecutors were
required to act in accordance with rulings by those who make
formal law.
Legal opinion is one of several sources of formal law, said
Achmad, who also served as a special advisor to the late Attorney
General Baharuddin Lopa.
"So it's up to the prosecutors whether they will voice a
similar tone with the Bagir's legal opinion or not," he said.
Achmad added that the prosecutors would not violate Tommy's
human rights by executing his conviction as stated in the legal
opinion regarding accusations against him in the land scam.
"If Tommy first served his 18-month prison sentence, he could
claim the prosecutors were violating his human rights," he said.
The head of the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, Antasari,
previously said that the prosecutors would wait for police to
complete their investigation before executing the legal opinion.
Tommy was still being interrogated on Thursday.
In addition, police have summoned Eurico Guterres, the former
leader of militias that violently opposed independence in East
Timor and Anto Supriyanto, one of Tommy's friends during his
escape, for questioning as witnesses.