Women instrumental in helping Tommy

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. Young, good looking, wealthy, and moreover son of a former president. Who would reject him even though he was a fugitive?

Tommy, often associated with several beautiful women, was believed to have evaded capture thanks to the efforts of a number of these women.

Now that police have finally placed him in custody, several names of those women have emerged, including some already named as suspects.

They include top model Sandy Harun, Lanny Banjaranti, and widow Rossana Hasan.

On Monday police summoned Sandy, divorced wife of businessman Setyawan Djody, for questioning.

Sandy, who confessed that she met Tommy twice, is believed to have known of Tommy's whereabouts but did not report to the police.

She is scheduled to appear for police questioning again next week, with the possibility that the police will press charges.

Other people that could face charges include 26-year-old Lanny Banjaranti. She was captured red-handed inside the house in Bintaro Jaya housing estate, where Tommy was captured by the police.

Lanny was once questioned by the police long before Tommy was arrested, and she is likely to be formally charged.

Rossana alias Cana, who owns the house, has been named as a suspect for having helped Tommy on the run. Her son Bill Haq has also been implicated and named a suspect.

Both were told to report twice at the police headquarters.

An executive at the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) Johnson Panjaitan said police could have done more than just telling people to report twice after being summoned.

"Tommy's network is so wide and I suspect police know about this. Besides Tommy as the mastermind, there are a lot of people to be charged, like the house owners and his lawyers (if found communicating with Tommy while on the run)," Johnson said.

The police, nevertheless, promised to summon others who may have helped Tommy, including some women.

"Several others will also be summoned as soon as police build cases against those who helped him," Jakarta police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said, declining to give details.

Those on the list include artist Ida Iasha who is scheduled to be questioned this week.

It is not clear, however, if artist Nia D. Zulkarnaen and Maya Rumantir would also be summoned as the police had questioned them long before Tommy's arrest.

Anton noted that those people would possibly be charged under Article 221 of the Criminal Code for having helped a suspect hide or having knowledge of the whereabouts of a suspect but not forwarding the information to police.

Violation on the article carries a maximum penalty of nine months imprisonment or a Rp 4.500 fine (4.5 U.S cents).

"All of them will not be able to escape from the charges because police have proof of relationships with Tommy when the latter was still a fugitive," Anton remarked on Tuesday.

Other women associated with Tommy went further, allegedly helping Tommy carry out more daring actions, such as the trafficking of illegal weapons and bombings.

They include Hetty Siti Hartika, who has been on trial. Hetty, Tommy's employee in running the Cemara Apartments in Menteng, Central Jakarta, was suspected of knowing Tommy's whereabouts and also possessed several firearms belonging to Tommy.

Police also arrested Elize Maria Tuwahatu in January. To police and during her trial, Elize confessed that Tommy ordered her to bring explosives to a man who was paid to plant the bombs in several locations in Jakarta.

These women were charged with helping Tommy hide and carry out criminal actions. But what about Tommy himself? Will he really be sent to jails for these various crimes?

Police have repeatedly said that the youngest son of former president Soeharto would face three main charges; the murder of Supreme Court Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, ownership of firearms and explosives and the series of bombings in the capital.

According to Johnson, Tommy will eventually be sent to jail for all his crimes. But first of all, Tommy must be charged with fleeing his jail sentence which was later overturned.

"For fleeing, Tommy has to get the heaviest punishment," he stressed.

Johnson said it was the most important crime at the moment as it would be the easiest to prove.

"It will have implications for the other crimes Tommy allegedly committed on the run, including the murder of Judge Syafiuddin. If police don't touch that matter, my conclusion is simple, police only engineered the arrest," he added.

Women around Tommy

Olivia Maya Rumantir; singer, educator, preacher; summoned on Aug. 20, as witness. Yenny Rahman; actress, businesswoman; summoned on Sept. 4, as witness. Hetty Siti Hartika; Cemara Apartment employee; tried as suspect in firearm ownership. Elize Maria Tuwahatu; psychic; tried as suspect in bombing. Rossana Hasan; housewife; named as suspect. Lanny Banjaranti; unknown; named as suspect. Sandy Harun; model; named as suspect. Ida Iasha; actress (names appears in telephone tapping); -. Sundari S.; unknown; -. Imas Anggraini; unknown; -. Barbara Manoef; unknown; -.

Various sources