Two year jail term sought for Tommy's bodyguards

Two year jail term sought for Tommy's bodyguards

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A state prosecutor sought a two-year jail term for two of
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's bodyguards on Wednesday for their
role in the forgery of documents, used by their boss while on the
run from the authorities.

Prosecutor Maju Ambarita told South Jakarta District Court
that both defendants Dedi Sutaedi Yusuf, 34, and Ferry Hukom, 40,
committed the crime to help Tommy escape capture by the police.

The youngest son of former president Soeharto became a
fugitive in November 2000 when he avoided the authorities after
the Supreme Court had sentenced him to 18 months in jail for
corruption.

The case started in May last year when fugitive Tommy phoned
Dedi and requested a passport. Dedi and Ferry then visited South
Jakarta Immigration Office on Jl. Warung Buncit Raya the
following month.

They met newspaper seller Martunus, alias Buyung, a middleman
who arranges illegal documents. Dedi asked Buyung to forge
documents needed to obtain a passport, including an ID card,
birth certificate and a family registration card.

Dedi paid Buyung Rp 500,000 and gave him two photographs of
Tommy with a beard and moustache. On the back of the photos was
written 'Ibrahim'.

Buyung went to a restaurant in the Halim area, East Jakarta,
to pass over the illegal documents to Ferry, who signed the ID
card of Ibrahim.

Dedi, who received the documents from Ferry, delivered them in
to Hetty Siti Hartika, Tommy's close friend. Hetty handed it to
Tommy on July 15 at the Grand Melia Hotel in Kuningan, South
Jakarta.

Hetty, 39, is currently facing charges at Central Jakarta
District Court for the illegal possession of ammunition.

Meanwhile, in another courtroom, Dody Harjito is being tried
for allegedly following Tommy's order to contact R. Maulawarman,
alias Molla, to murder Supreme Court Justice M. Sjafiuddin
Kartasasmita, who had sentenced Tommy to 18 months in jail for
graft.

A witness, Nur Aini Thamrin, told the court that in May 2001
Dody rented her house in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, for Rp 30
million a year.

Nur admitted she knew that Tommy used the house as a hiding
place, but did not report it to the police.

On Aug. 6 last year, the police found the fake documents,
dozens of weapons and explosives in the house that Nur rented
out.

The house was rented by Dody, who lived nearby on Jl. Bukit
Hijau, allegedly in an attempt to hide Tommy.

Another witness, Molla, testified in Dody's case that Tommy
was Dody's boss.

But he retracted his previous statement that Tommy had ordered
him to murder Syafiuddin.

Currently, Molla and Noval Hadad are being tried at Central
Jakarta District Court for allegedly shooting Syafiuddin dead.

Ironically, although Tommy's men have been sent to court, the
state has yet to try Tommy.

The police delivered two dossiers of Tommy to the State
Prosecutor's Office about two weeks ago. The first dossier was
related to the murder of Syafiuddin, while the second was linked
to the illegal possession of firearms.

However, the prosecutor's office returned the first dossier to
the police due to incomplete information, which is needed to
build an indictment against Tommy.