Tommy's verdict set on Oct. 14

Tommy's verdict set on Oct. 14

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court will resume its
trial of the controversial land exchange deal between wholesale
firm Goro and State Logistic Agency (Bulog) in mid-October, court
officials said on Wednesday.

Judge R. Soenarto, who is presiding over the trial against
defendant Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, said he would read the
judges' verdict on Oct. 14.

Also on Oct. 14, the judges' will read the verdict on Ricardo
Gelael, another defendant in the land exchange deal. The trial
will be presided over by Judge Djalius Amin.

Tommy, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, was the
president commissioner of PT Goro Batara Sakti. Prosecutor Fachmi
demanded the court sentence him to two years in jail for his
alleged main role in the land exchange deal, which caused Rp 95.4
billion (US$13.4 million) in losses to the state.

Prosecutor Dachamer Munthe also demanded in a separate trial
that Ricardo, the former president director of Goro, serve the
same two-year jail sentence.

Ricardo testified in an earlier hearing that Tommy played an
important role in making the land exchange deal a success.

Tommy refuted the allegation, however, and put the blame on
Ricardo, who, he claimed, knew the details of the deal. He said
that he was responsible only for Goro's planning and supervision
in the land exchange transaction.

The first hearing of the civil lawsuit filed by former
president Soeharto against seven defendants, the journalists of
New York-based Time magazine, will also be on Oct. 14.

Judge Sihol Sitompul of the Central Jakarta District Court
postponed the first hearing from Sept. 9 to Oct. 14, after five
of the seven defendants had not yet given their letter of
authorization to the appointed lawyers. Only Zamira Lubis and
Jason Tedjasukmana, both Indonesian citizens, gave their letters
of authorization to lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis. (asa)