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)