Indonesia to declare Suharto's son a fugitive

Indonesia to declare Suharto's son a fugitive
REUTERS

JAKARTA, NOV 3: Indonesian prosecutors said late on Friday said they would declare the youngest son of former President Suharto a fugitive within hours if he did not show up to start serving an 18-month prison sentence for graft.

"Tommy will be put on the list of hunted persons after midnight. I will wait for him here...," said Fachmi, Chief prosecutor at the South Jakarta attorney-general's office, which handled the initial probe into his case.

Fachmi earlier strode up to Tommy's walled compound, rang the bell several times and banged on the gate before giving up and bolting back to his car to shelter from the heavy rain.

Prosecutors have sought to arrest and jail the one-time playboy since President Abdurrahman Wahid on Thursday formally rejected his plea for a pardon. He was convicted in late September over a land scam.

Prosecutors, police and scores of reporters were holed up outside his luxury central Jakarta residence in pouring rain late on Friday waiting for him to return so he can be arrested and taken to the capital's Cipinang prison.

One of his lawyers insisted his client was in Jakarta, but refused to disclose his whereabouts.

"Don't worry, Tommy is in Jakarta," lawyer Nudirman Munir said via his mobile phone.

Police declined to say when they would begin the manhunt.

Friday's drama has captivated Indonesia, which the elder Suharto ruled for three decades. Many Indonesians have long felt his youngest son symbolised some of the worst excesses of a corrupt past.

Jakarta has been abuzz with rumours over when Tommy would be sent to prison.

His conviction marks the first for any member of Suharto's family over graft. Prosecutors have separately appealed a court decision last September to dismiss a corruption case against Suharto himself on the grounds he was too ill.

The Supreme Court in late September overturned an earlier court's decision and sentenced Tommy over a mid-1990s land scam that caused losses to the state of $11 million.

Wahid's Chief spokesman, Wimar Witoelar, on Friday defended the time it was taking the government to put Tommy behind bars, saying the Suhartos were being protected by powerful allies.

"Do you remember how you got your first kiss? Sounds simple, very hard to do," he told a foreign correspondents' lunch.

"We have never arrested the son of a super, super strong person like Suharto who is still super, super strong, who is protected by many, many people -- both official people and unofficial people.

"Even if they are not systematically organised to protect them, (they) are at least on an ad hoc basis available for a day, two days, you know, just like renting a car... to put cogs in the mechanism, to think up legal delays in the system."

Witoelar, once jailed as a dissident by Suharto, said he expected Tommy to put up a strong fight to stay out of jail.

"What is at stake from the point of view of Tommy Suharto is a jail cell with just a 14 inch television set and a cot," he said. "I've been there. I know it's miserable.

"Even for me, who never lived with limousines and bodyguards and lots of ``interesting companions."

Tommy has remained free pending his pardon plea.

He has separately appealed the Supreme Court's decision, and officials at the South Jakarta attorney-general's office have said he could be jailed while that appeal was being heard.

A wealthy businessman who prospered in the 1990s with the help of his connections, Tommy has admitted to being a "bit negligent" over the land scam, annoying government officials over his failure to express remorse.

He established an array of businesses under the Humpuss Group of companies in the 1990s.

Witoelar said Wahid also remained committed to bringing the former president to trial -- through appeal or launching a new case.

"Suharto must not escape from the hands of the law while this government is in power. Until that job is done, the mission of reform is not done," he said.

The 79-year-old Suharto stepped down in disgrace in May 1998 in the face of an explosion of unrest in Jakarta. The former leader, who has suffered three strokes, and his family have denied any wrongdoing.