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Woman Claims Fugitive Suharto Son Gave Her Bombs
JAKARTA (News Agencies) - A woman arrested for leaving three bombs in a Jakarta park has told police the explosives were given to her by the fugitive son of Indonesia's former president Suharto, a report said Sunday.
The woman, Elize Maria Tuwahatu, 33, was arrested Friday at the Indonesia in Miniature recreation park in East Jakarta.
She was stopped while rushing for a taxi, having put three bombs in a plastic bag on top of a van belonging to a visitor, police said.
"It can be concluded that Elize did meet with Tommy Suharto. During that meeting Tommy handed over a package, the three bombs," National Police Spokesman Brigadier General Saleh Saaf told journalist on Saturday, the Kompas daily reported.
Hutomo Mandala Putra, alias Tommy Suharto, is the former president's youngest son. He has been on the run from police since November 3rd when he failed to turn himself in to serve an 18-month jail term for corruption.
Saaf said the conclusion was arrived at following the questioning of Tuwahatu, her mother, Sonya Tuwahatu, and friend Lisa Lopolisa.
Lopolisa, according to Saaf, told police she had accompanied Elize to meet a man late on January 14th in the plush Menteng area of Jakarta, home to many of the Suharto clan, including Tommy.
Waiting in Elize's car, Lopolisa told police, she had seen the man hand Elize a package.
Elize later admitted the man was Tommy, a friend from junior high school days.
"She [Elize] admitted to having met Tommy that evening and was given a package which was contained the three bombs," Saaf said.
Tommy also gave here three checks worth 25 million rupiah ($2,631) each and instructions to deposit the bombs at the trade and industry ministry, the tax office and the attorney general's office.
Saaf said Elize and her mother were both being treated as suspects, as Sonya Tuwahatu was suspected of knowing explosives were being kept at her home but not reporting this to police.
At Elize's house, just one block from the luxurious home of the former president, police found three more homemade bombs, nine explosive firecrackers, and 12 non-explosives firecrackers.
Saaf was shown by the SCTV television station as saying Elize's arrest had followed information from a man who claimed he had been contacted by her to plant the bombs.
The man, Agung Yulianto, 38, works as a paranormal or "wise man" under the name of Joko Bodo. In the past, he had been contacted by Elize to cast spells to make her restaurant business prosper.
Such "wise men" are often contracted by businesses in Indonesia to help them flourish.
Yulianto said he was offered 110 million rupiah ($11,580) to place the three bombs at the attorney general's office, at the trade and industry ministry and one "just as a shock therapy" at the tax office, Kompas reported.
However, Yulianto contacted the police. He is currently under police protection, Saaf said.
Saaf declined to speculate whether Tommy was behind the series of bombings in several Indonesian cities on Christmas Eve that left 18 people killed and more than 100 injured.
One of Tommy's lawyers has already dismissed Elize's reported confession as a lie and a slander.
Police said the bombs found in the park were not intended to be detonated there, but were to be handed over to Yulianto.
Indonesia has been rocked by a series of bombings in the past year, including one at Jakarta's stock exchange, culminating in the blasts on Christmas Eve.
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