Tommy's murder trial expected to start soon

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Central Jakarta District Court is expected to start soon the murder trial of former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, as the Jakarta Prosecutors's Office submitted the files on Thursday.

The court's administrative head for criminal cases, U. Dj. Sidabalok, announced that the trial would begin within the next seven days to 10 days.

Tommy would be tried for the murder of Supreme Court Justice Syaifuddin M. Kartasasmita, and will also be charged with the illegal possession of weapons and ammunition found in Cemara Apartments in Central Jakarta, the illegal possession of similar items found in a house in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta and his flight from justice.

The fourth charge has been made as he was a fugitive for a year in an effort to avoid the 18-month jail term handed down by Syafiuddin and two other Supreme Court justices, who found him guilty of corruption.

The murder charge carries the death penalty.

Many expect that Tommy's trial will become a high-profile test of the corrupt judiciary.

Soeharto was sent to the South Jakarta District Court in 2000 for corruption, but the court decided that he was too ill to stand trial. The court is now considering reopening the trial following the prosecutors' demand in a letter sent to the court last month.

Tommy's case is being handled by a three-member team of prosecutors headed by Andi Rachman Asbar. The others are Hasan Madani and Lukimanto.

Andi usually deals with banking crime cases. He became chief prosecutor of the high-profile Bank Bali scandal in 1999. The defendants were former Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli and former executives of the bank, Firman Soetjahya, Hendri Kurniawan and Rusli Suryadi.

The South Jakarta District Court suspended the trial as the indictment was not accurate.

Both Hasan and Lukimanto prosecuted dozens of people accused of being involved in the attack in 1996 on the Indonesian Democratic Party's (PDI) headquarters, which claimed several lives. The strike was believed to have been backed by the government and involved members of the military, but they were never sent to court.

Last year, Hasan prosecuted Endin Wahyudin, who had reported a bribery incident in the Supreme Court. Hasan had asked the Central Jakarta District Court to sentence Endin to six months in jail for defaming Supreme Court Justices Marnis Kahar and Supraptini Soetarto.

Lukimanto was the prosecutor who sought seven-month jail terms for university student activists Mixilmina Munir and Aris Wardoyo, who led a rally against a fuel price hike last year.

Tommy, 40, has been in detention at the Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta since Feb. 20.

The police had earlier linked Tommy with a series of bombings across the city and other places in the country. But police later dropped charges due to lack of evidence.

Prosecutors accused him of masterminding the murder of Syafiuddin, who was shot dead on July 26, 2001, when Tommy was still on the run.

Tommy escaped on Nov. 4, 2000, after then president Abdurrahman Wahid refused to grant him a presidential pardon.

The police arrested him last Nov. 28, the day before former Jakarta Police chief Sofjan Jacoeb was replaced by Makbul Padmanagara.

Several of Tommy's accomplices are being tried for their alleged role in Sjafiuddin's murder.