Two more suspects arrested in judge's murder

Two more suspects arrested in judge's murder

JAKARTA (JP): Two more suspects arrested by police for their
alleged role in killing Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin
Kartasasmita said they were acting on the orders of former
President Soeharto's fugitive son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra,
a police official said on Tuesday.

City police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Yacoeb said that the
suspects, Noval Hadad and Mulawarman, were arrested in the Bidara
Cina area of East Jakarta on Tuesday morning, and in the
Fatmawati area in South Jakarta on Monday night respectively.

"They admitted to having met Tommy in Hotel Patra Jasa a few
days before the murder," he said from Jakarta Police
Headquarters.

During the meeting in the hotel located on Jl. Ahmad Yani,
Central Jakarta, the suspects received Rp 100 million (US$11,111)
and some guns from Tommy, he said.

He said the suspects, along with accomplices Ferry Ukom and
Dedi Setiadi Yusuf, then carried out the murder of Syafiuddin on
July 26.

He said the four suspects were riding two motorcycles when
they intercepted a Honda CRV van driven by the victim in the
Kemayoran area of Central Jakarta. The victim was on his way to
work.

While Dedi and Ferry drove the motorbikes, Noval and
Mulawarman fired several shots at Syaifuddin and his car.

The suspects first shot the car's left front tire, causing the
vehicle to veer and hit a cigarette stall. They shot the victim
at close range when the car stopped.

Syafiuddin died instantly from severe gunshot wounds to his
head and body.

Sofjan said on Tuesday that upon Tommy's order, Dedy and Ferry
had drawn sketches of the houses of justices Syafiuddin, R. Sunu
Wahadi and Paulus Effendy Lotulung and the route from their homes
to the Supreme Court.

One of the suspects who shot Syafiuddin was suspected to be a
bodyguard of Tommy's wife, Ardhia Pramesti Regita "Tata" Cahyani.

The arrest of Noval and Mulawarman brings the total number of
suspects arrested for the killing to 10.

The other eight suspects were arrested last week. One female
suspect, Hety Siti Hartika, is believed to be a close friend of
Tommy's. She was arrested at Cemara Apartments in Central
Jakarta, where police also seized several guns and sticks of
dynamite.

However, police failed during the raid to apprehend Tommy,
who has eluded the law since November after Syafiuddin and two
other Supreme Court justices sentenced him to 18 months in jail
for corruption in the land exchange scandal involving the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog).

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam promised on
Tuesday that the police would post a reward of Rp 25 million for
anyone who had information on Tommy's whereabouts.

"People can contact us at 021-5703037, 5234240 or 5202661," he
said.

Sofjan said on Wednesday that the police would distribute
5,000 pictures of Tommy's altered appearance throughout the
capital by helicopter.

The picture of Tommy with a beard and moustache is the same as
the one on a fake ID card found during a raid of a house at Jl.
Alam Segar III/23, Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, on Monday night.
Guns, grenades, knives and several rounds of ammunition were also
found in the house.

Police also said that Tommy committed the crimes with the help
of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

City Governor Sutiyoso, who visited Jakarta Police
Headquarters on Tuesday, promised to take stern action against
officers in the Pasar Minggu subdistrict, who allegedly issued
the fake ID card for Tommy.

Tommy was declared a suspect in Syafiuddin's murder on Monday
night, and was told to surrender to police within three days.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human
Rights Association (PBHI), Hendardi, said that police should not
have to wait three days to arrest the suspect.

Hendardi also expressed his skepticism that the Free Aceh
Movement had cooperated with Tommy as they had a totally
different ideology.

Also on Tuesday, Nurdiman Munir, who claims to be Tommy's
lawyer, went to Jakarta Police Headquarters to meet Sofjan. The
police, however, rejected the meeting, saying that Nurdiman
represented Tommy only in the Bulog case.

Nurdiman said that the accusations made against Tommy were
premature and went against the presumption of innocence.
(jun/tso)