Witness testifies that Tommy tried to bribe Syafiuddin
Witness testifies that Tommy tried to bribe Syafiuddin
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A widow of Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who
was murdered allegedly upon the orders of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala
Putra, told the court on Wednesday details of Tommy's attempt to
bribe the deceased.
Syafiuddin's second wife, Iwah Setyawati, told the Central
Jakarta District Court that Tommy had offered Rp 200 million (US$
21,300) to persuade Syafiudin to rule in his favor.
Iwah showed a piece of paper, which was signed by Tommy's
lawyer Elza Syarief, saying that Rp 100 million of the money
would be given to Syafiuddin, Rp 50 million to Iwah and the rest
to Elza.
To follow up the offer, Tommy, accompanied by Elza, Elza's
husband, businessman Kennedy "Kenny" Nanik and Tommy's body guard
Dedi Sutaedi Yusuf, came to meet Syafiuddin at Iwah's house in
Cipayung, East Jakarta, in October 2000.
During the meeting, Iwah asserted she heard Tommy say to her
husband," "Sir, please help me."
Later in October, however, Syafiuddin sentenced Tommy to 18
months in jail for a graft case.
Tommy absconded from justice in November after his request for
a presidential pardon was turned down.
Syafiuddin was shot to death in July last year, when Tommy was
still on the run.
Tommy has been charged with masterminding the murder, illegal
possession of firearms in Cemara Apartments, Central Jakarta, and
in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta; and with fleeing from justice.
Tommy, who was arrested last November, did not reject Iwah
testimony in Wednesday's hearing.
He only said, "I don't know."
Iwah replied quickly, "How come? You were there at the time."
But Tommy kept silent.
Earlier, chief prosecutor Hasan Madani asked the judges to
dismiss Elza as Tommy's lawyer because she was involved in the
case.
"There might be a conflict of interest should she continue to
represent her client," he said. "She should be here as a witness,
not as Tommy's lawyer."
He said that Elza was also present when the police raided
Cemara Apartments in search of Tommy.
Elza, however, refused to step down as Tommy's lawyer.
The judges did not seem to get Hasan's point.
Presiding Judge Amiruddin Zakaria, after discussing the case
with the other judges, asked Iwah whether she felt threatened by
Elza's presence. As Iwah said no, the judges rejected Hasan's
request.
The issue about Elza and the bribery is actually nothing new
as it had been reported by the media last year. But until today,
the police have not questioned Elza about it.
The Association of Indonesian Lawyers and Advocates (HAPI), of
which Elza is a member, also refused to probe the case.
Two weeks ago, the police announced that Elza had attempted to
bribe security guards of Cemara Apartment to retract statements
that linked Tommy to the illegal firearms and ammunition found in
the apartment.
Rahmat Hidayat and Tatang Somantri have admitted that they
received Rp 2 million ($213) each from Elza to lie before the
court. They are now being detained by the police.
Elza, who is usually friendly to reporters, refused to comment
on the matter.
"No comment, no comment, no comment," she said on the
sidelines of the hearing.
The police have announced they would summon Elza in the case.
But there has been no indication that she would be questioned
soon.
On Wednesday, the court also confronted two alleged murderers
of Syafiuddin, R. Maulawarman and Noval Hadad, with eyewitnesses
Jurianto, Jumbadi and Sahrudin.
The witnesses said they saw Noval Hadad shoot Syafiuddin.
"It's him. He was the one who pointed the pistol at me," said
Jurianto said.
Interestingly, Noval smiled when the witness pointed to him.