Tommy's murder trial expected to start soon

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.