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Megawati Government Scores Big with Tommy Suharto Arrest
By IslamOnline Correspondent Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA, Nov. 29 (IslamOnline) - The government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri scored big on Wednesday when police finally arrested fugitive businessman Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, son of former president Mohamed Suharto.
Tommy was arrested after police stormed a house in southern Jakarta Wednesday afternoon, ending a yearlong police chase.
Tommy became Indonesia's most-wanted fugitive when he refused to go to jail after being convicted of corruption in a land deal causing the government to lose millions of dollars.
He subsequently disappeared from the public and remained in hiding for a year.
"He was napping when the police raided the house," Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb said.
People in Jakarta hailed Tommy Suharto's arrest as a new political deal consolidating Megawati Sukarnoputri's embattled government.
Megawati's four-month old regime had been unable to resolve the Suharto family dilemma within the country when the corruption case against Tommy was written off a month ago, causing widespread protests by students.
Legal advisers in Jakarta say Tommy Suharto's move to defy the 18-month jail sentence was contempt of court, and therefore, the police should use this as the first charge on which to hold the outlaw.
They also said police should find evidence of Tommy Suharto's alleged involvement in a number of criminal cases, including the murder of Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita and illegal ownership of firearms.
Justice Kartasasmita sentenced Tommy Suharto in the land corruption case. Tommy, 39, remains the main suspect in his murder.
The police also accuse Tommy Suharto of having a role in a spate of bombings after they mounted raids in July on two Jakarta residences he allegedly used. Police said they found a weapons and explosive cache there.
Tommy Suharto, however, can no longer be prosecuted for corruption in the land swap case involving his company, Goro Batara Sakti, and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) because the Supreme Court exonerated him on Oct. 1, 1999.
However, the Indonesian Attorney-General's office on Thursday filed a demand with the Supreme Court, urging it to revoke its controversial acquittal of Tommy Suharto on graft charges.
A Jakarta court acquitted Tommy and a business partner of corruption charges linked to a land swap deal. In September last year, a panel of Supreme Court judges overturned that verdict and ordered Tommy and his partner jailed for 18 months.
Tommy Suharto sought presidential clemency, but was refused by former president Abdurrahman Wahid. In November last year, he went on the run rather than turn himself in to serve the jail term.
In present day Indonesia, the fate of the presidency and the regime that supports it depends largely on how it handles the Suharto family, accused of the worst economic and political crimes in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
It is clear that if Tommy Suharto was to walk free again, Megawati Sukarnoputri's government would suffer a definite blow on the political front.
Already Bambang Widjojanto of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) warned that the National Police should not allow Tommy Suharto any special privileges. Otherwise, he added, the long-time fugitive might have an opportunity to escape again.
Bambang also called on the National Police to disclose the network that had protected the youngest son of former president Suharto.
He speculated that Tommy's arrest might possibly have been prompted by the disappointment by police over a deal with the fugitive.
"Consequently, the police should also investigate anyone involved in any [possible] deal," Bambang said.
Tommy is one of the owners of the Humpuss Group, a major Indonesian conglomerate boasting 48 subsidiaries. He was awarded the government's national Timor car project, which failed around the same time his father fell from power in 1998.
Since Tommy Suharto was declared a fugitive on Nov. 4, last year, he had reportedly planned to surrender a number of times, but never showed up.
Tommy Suharto is the first member of Suharto's family sent to court for corruption after his father resigned in 1998. His sister, Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana, had been named a suspect in a graft case involving the state oil and gas company, Pertamina.
His other sibling, Bambang Trihatmodjo, was questioned in another corruption case. Neither has been indicted so far.
Former President Suharto was earlier charged with corruption, but the court decided he was too ill to stand trial.
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