Women instrumental in helping Tommy

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