Tommy's murder charge complete

Tommy's murder charge complete

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police completed on Sunday their investigation into the
involvement of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra in the murder of
Supreme Court Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita.

Tommy's lawyer Elza Syarif told journalists on Sunday
afternoon that she had been informed that police had wrapped up
their investigation of the case.

"It might be ready to be signed later on this evening
(Sunday). That's what the investigators told me," Elza said.

This means that eleven days after capturing Tommy, police can
now pursue the two other crimes that police claim Tommy is
suspected of: The illegal possession of arms and masterminding a
series of bomb attacks in the capital.

Police were not immediately available for confirmation, though
the police had earlier suggested that Tommy could be charged
under Article 340 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum
penalty of death.

There was also no immediate information whether police would
immediately hand over the dossiers to prosecutors, as was usually
the practice, or wait till investigations on the other two are
completed.

Elza insisted on Sunday that despite having completed the
dossiers, police have yet to present Tommy with any material
evidence on his alleged involvement in the case, such as a bullet
or a murder weapon.

"So far, they have not shown us any evidence that they might
have," she remarked.

Meanwhile, senior lawyer Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan expressed
concern of possible legal manipulation, which might eventually
stifle attempts to convict Tommy.

Without giving details, he warned that possible loopholes
could be found in the police investigation, or the judge's final
verdict.

"There are many possibilities that they (the lawyers) can seek
and play with, given a client like Tommy and our prevailing legal
conditions," Luhut remarked.

He pointed out that in the past few days the defense had tried
to drag big name figures into the case to distract public
attention and spread the blame.

"For me, that is unethical, very unethical," he said.

Luhut, who is a lawyer for former president Abdurrahman "Gus
Dur" Wahid, said this was happening to his client.

Tommy's lawyers have just filed a lawsuit against Raden Doddy
Sumadi for allegedly extorting money from Tommy.

Doddy is portrayed as a close ally of Abdurrahman who helped
arrange the infamous meetings between the two.

Luhut claims that if police do summon Abdurrahman, on the
grounds that Tommy claimed the then president had been a pushing
factor in his escape from conviction, then the police have
clearly been deceived into this defense strategy.

But Abdurrahman's daughter, Zannuba Arifah Chafsoh Rahman,
urged police on Sunday to quickly summon her father so the matter
could be cleared up.

"Bapak (father) is ready to go to Jakarta Police Headquarters
(to testify). He has even asked that the questioning be held in
the near future," she said, as quoted by Antara.