INDONESIA: "TOMMY" SUHARTO SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS JAIL FOR MURDER OF SUPREME COURT JUDGE.

Record ID: 319246

  • Title: INDONESIA: "TOMMY" SUHARTO SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS JAIL FOR MURDER OF SUPREME COURT JUDGE.
  • Date: 26th July 2002
  • Summary: (U5) JAKARTA, INDONESIA (JULY 26, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: EXTERIOR OF TRIAL VENUE 0.04 2. GV/MV: SECURITY AND SPECTATORS BEING CHECKED BEFORE ENTERING COURT (3 SHOTS) 0.19 3. GV/MCU: WIDE OF COURT; JUDGES ENTERING COURT AND TAKING SEATS; JUDGE AMIRUDDIN ZAKARIA OPENING COURT SESSION; WIDE OF COURT (4 SHOTS) 0.54 4. CU: DEFENDANT TOMMY SUHARTO'S EMPTY SEAT 0.58 5. MV: CUTAWAY JOURNALISTS 1.03 6. GV/PAN.GV: LAWYERS WALKING OUT (2 SHOTS) 1.19 7. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) LAWYER MUHAMAD ASSEGAF SAYING: "Our presence is to accompany our client who was expected to hear the verdict. Our client could not attend because of lawful reason. But the trial has been forced to continue (by judges). We do not have any interest anymore. So, we walked out" 1.37 8. MV/GV: POLICE INSIDE COURT ROOM; PROSECUTORS LISTENING; JUDGE SPEAKING (4 SHOTS) 1.55 9. MCU: (SOUNDBITE)(Bahasa Indonesia) JUDGE AMIRUDDIN ZAKARIA SAYING:"I hereby announce that the defendant is found guilty and sentenced to fifteen years in jail" 2.04 10. GV/LV: SPECTATORS; WIDE OF COURT (2 SHOTS) 2.14 (U5) JAKARTA, INDONESIA (FILE ) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 11. VARIOUS: VARIOUS OF TOMMY SUHARTO DURING GRAFT TRIAL; MURDERED JUDGE SYAFIUDIN KARTASMITA AT TRIAL; TOMMY LISTENING; VARIOUS OF TOMMY'S WEDDING (8 SHOTS) 2.57 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 10th August 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Reuters ID: LVA2ZJL4I66QF0NWAXE3UZWIZQCD
  • Story Text: An Indonesian court has sentenced former President
    Suharto's favourite son to a total of 15 years in jail for
    masterminding the murder of a Supreme Court judge and other
    offences.



    Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra was absent on Friday
    (July 26) after earlier complaining of an upset stomach before
    the verdict was announced in his sensational trial, which may be
    a boost to President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the country's
    tarnished judiciary.

    The sentence exactly matched that sought by prosecutors
    for the combined charges of masterminding the killing of a
    judge who had convicted him of graft in 2000, along with
    possessing illegal weapons and going on the run to evade the
    graft verdict.

    However, the murder charge alone had carried the maximum
    penalty of death and Indonesia likely has a long way to go
    before it restores the faith of its 210 million people, and
    especially foreign investors, in the legal system.

    After numerous delays, the verdict was finally delivered
    in the early evening, but provoked little reaction inside the
    court as many onlookers present earlier had gone home.

    Tommy's defence team has said all the charges were
    baseless, and one lawyer said they would likely appeal.

    Earlier in the day the atmosphere had been electric as
    hundreds of people jammed into the makeshift courtroom in an
    auditorium owned by the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

    As lawyers, reporters and police checked their watches,
    waiting for Tommy to show up in one of Indonesia's
    most-watched trials, pop songs from international bands Bon
    Jovi, All-4-One and The Coors played on the courtroom's
    speaker system. The music was to keep those waiting
    entertained, officials said.

    Tommy's absence marked the latest twist in a case seen as
    a litmus test for President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the
    tarnished legal system in the world's fourth most populous
    country.

    After a dramatic walk-out by Tommy's 10-member defence
    team, the session resumed after a recess while doctors
    examined the former playboy and stockcar driver at his jail
    cell.

    Doctors who examined Tommy at the prosecutors' request
    found he had diarrhoea along with suspected vertigo and should
    rest for around two days, judge Zakaria said.

    "Our presence is to accompany our client who was expected
    to hear the verdict. Our client could not attend because of
    lawful reason. But the trial has been forced to continue (by
    judges). We do not have any interest anymore. So, we walked
    out" said Muhammad Assegaf from Tommy's legal team.

    His case and several others involving prominent
    Indonesians have been viewed as a test of Megawati's pledge to
    make the nation a fairer place after long abuse by
    authoritarians.

    She marked her first year in power this week amid a stream
    of criticism of her rule, especially over what some cite as
    her slowness to clean up the judiciary and aggressively tackle
    graft.

    Tommy has denied masterminding the murder of judge
    Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, gunned down in his car in broad
    daylight a year ago. Tommy was on the run at the time, part of
    a year-long
    flight that ended when police caught him last November.

    Two men received life sentences in May for killing the
    judge but both denied Tommy hired them, despite police
    statements that they had originally linked him to the crime.

    The court said Tommy had paid one of the men to carry out the
    murder.

    The fact is that whether 40-year-old Tommy was guilty or
    not, many ordinary Indonesians wanted him behind bars because
    they saw him as a symbol of the excesses that existed during
    his father's 32-year rule, which ended in 1998.

    jrc/


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