Tommy's trial again adjourned due to absent witnesses

Tommy's trial again adjourned due to absent witnesses

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The hearing of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra was adjourned on
Friday because of the absence of seven prosecution witnesses who
were scheduled to testify at the Central Jakarta District Court.

The absence of the witnesses without just cause hampers the
legal process against Tommy. Legally, a defendant can only be
detained for a certain period of time. If Tommy's detention
period expires before the trial is over, he would have to be
released.

Tommy's detention period, which began in November last year,
will end in approximately two months.

On Friday, presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria opened the
hearing at 10 a.m., one hour behind schedule, only to postpone it
for another hour to wait for the witnesses.

When the witnesses failed to appear, the judge adjourned the
trial until Tuesday.

Among the seven witnesses who failed to appear were Dion Hardi
and Kennedy "Kenny" Nanik, both businessmen and associates of
Tommy, and Firna Sofia Hilal, the wife of Noval Hadad, the man
allegedly hired by Tommy to kill Supreme Court Justice M.
Syafiuddin Kartasasmita on July 26 last year.

The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Noval to life in
prison last month for his role in the murder of Syafiuddin, one
of the judges who convicted Tommy for graft.

Judge Amiruddin ordered chief prosecutor Hasan Madani to
force witness Dion to appear at the next hearing, as he had
already ignored two summons. Last week, Dion refused to appear in
court, claiming he had health problems.

The failure of the witnesses to appear only adds to the list
of "interruptions" in the trial of Tommy, who is charged with the
murder of Syafiuddin, the illegal possession of firearms and
ammunition, and flight from justice.

If found guilty of the murder and firearms charges, Tommy, the
youngest son of former president Soeharto, could be sentenced to
death.

Last month, Tommy' sister, Siti Hutami "Mamiek" Endang
Adiningsih, failed to appear in court to testify because of
health problems.

When prosecutors summoned her for the second times, Mamiek
refused to testify on the grounds that Article 168 of the
Criminal Code Procedures protects siblings of a defendant from
having to take the witness stand.

On May 6, Tommy's lawyers asked the court to postpone the
trial following the arrest of Elza Syarief, who was leading
Tommy's defense. Elza was arrested on charges of bribing
witnesses to lie in court during Tommy's trial.

Two days later, the court had to adjourn the hearing because
Tommy's lawyers refused to appear in court as a protest against
Elza's detention.

After the hearing was adjourned on Friday, Central Jakarta
District Court spokesman Andi Samsan Nganro announced that
Tommy's trial was being moved from the Jakarta Fairground in
Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, to a hall of the Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency, also in Kemayoran.

The trial is being relocated because the annual Jakarta Fair
begins on June 14.

The corruption trial of House of Representatives Speaker Akbar
Tandjung will also be moved from the fairground to the hall of
the meteorology agency on Jl. Angkasa, which can house about 500
people.

"We will use the agency's Mega auditorium, and we expect to
use it until the completion of both trials as it is rather
inconvenient to move the trials several times," said Andi, who is
also on the panels of judges hearing Tommy and Akbar's cases.

Tommy and Akbar's trials started out in the Central Jakarta
District Court building on Jl. Gajah Mada. Both trials were moved
because the courtrooms cannot accommodate a large number of
spectators, and also due to security concerns.

At the Jakarta Fairground, the trials were moved from hall to
hall. At first, hearings were held in the fully air-conditioned
Hall B2, but then moved to Hall C2 and later to Hall A1.