Woman admits harboring fugitive Tommy in her home

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A woman testified on Wednesday that she had allowed Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who was a fugitive, to stay at her house even though she knew it was against the law.

"Yes, I realize that (the fact that she faces a possible jail term for sheltering a fugitive). I allowed him to stay at my home because I took pity on him. Therefore, I didn't report it to the police," Rossanna Hasan, a widow of a former middle-ranking Army officer, told the Central Jakarta District Court.

She said Tommy had called her early in August last year, asking to stay at her house.

Rossanna, who has known Tommy since 1995, claimed she repeatedly urged the defendant to surrender to the police. However, Tommy did not respond to her advice.

The police had earlier named her a suspect for helping Tommy to escape, but until today, she has not been prosecuted.

Tommy became a fugitive for about a year after he was sentenced to 18 months in jail in September 2000 for his part in a land scam.

While he was on the run, Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, one of the judges who had sentenced Tommy, was shot dead.

Tommy was arrested by the police while taking a nap at Rossanna's house on Jl. Maleo, Bintaro, Tangerang, on Nov. 28 last year.

He faces charges of conspiracy to murder Syafiuddin, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition as well as fleeing from justice.

Rossanna claimed that Tommy gave her a total of Rp 10 million to cover the cost of his daily needs.

Presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria, however, read from her dossier, saying that Tommy had paid the money as rent to use Rossanna's house as a hideout.

According to the dossier, it was Sandy Harun, a former model and former wife of businessman Setiawan Djody, who first contacted Rossanna to allow her house to be used as a shelter for Tommy.

Rossanna confirmed that Sandy had visited her home several times but denied that Sandy had met Tommy.

The police have named Rossanna and her son Bill Haq as suspects.

Sandy, model Lani Banjaranti, former actress Yenny Rachman and several other women who were closed to Tommy have already been summoned as they had met Tommy while he was on the run but had not reported it to the police.

However, the police have not yet charged them so far.

City police spokesman Sr.Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam told The Jakarta Post that the police had completed and sent the dossiers on Rossanna and her son to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office.

"They might be tried in separate cases soon; just wait and see," Anton said.

If found guilty, Rossanna and Bill could face a maximum penalty of eight months in jail.