Indonesian Government Has No Intention of Making a Deal With Tommy
November 16, 2000 - 0:0
JAKARTA A top Indonesian minister said Wednesday the government had yet to consider trying to salvage its failure to arrest the fugitive son of former president Suharto with a political deal, AFP reported.
"We have not yet discussed other forms of approach in order to make (Tommy) give himself up," Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told journalists at his office here.
Yudhoyono said that Jakarta put a "legal solution" as its main priority in apprehending Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.
Tommy, 38, has been on the run from the law for 12 days since he was declared a fugitive on November 3 after failing to surrender to authorities to serve an 18-month jail term for corruption.
Yudhoyono also said that should tommy be willing to surrender himself, police would guarantee his "safety and security" as a convicted criminal.
"I've said it many times that if Tommy Suharto feels threatened and that his safety is unprotected if he serves his sentence, such an issue could be communicated with the police," he said.
The minister added it would be "very harmful" to Indonesia's credibility if police ultimately failed to immediately arrest Tommy.
Last week, police and prosecutors spent a fruitless four hours searching the homes of Suharto, Tommy and four of his siblings "Mamiek" Siti Hutami Endang, Tutut, and brothers Sigit Harjoyudanto and Bambang Trihatmojo.
On Tuesday, a similar search for Tommy including a second foray into the elder Suharto's house which is interconnected to those of his children in Jakarta's residential District of Menteng also came up empty handed.
Prosecutors on Tuesday also seized Tommy's 1,317 square meter house to be used as collateral in case he could not or refused to pay his 30 billion rupiah (3.23 million dollar) fine, which was handed down with the 18-month jail sentence.
The Supreme Court on September 22 overturned acquittals by two lower courts and found Tommy and his business partner Richard Gelael guilty of causing the state 10.7 million dollars in losses through a land swap scam.
If jailed, Tommy a one-time womanizer, now married with a child would be the first in the family to be put behind bars since Suharto was ousted.
He and his five siblings control some of the country's biggest conglomerates, obtained prior to their father's fall.
"We have not yet discussed other forms of approach in order to make (Tommy) give himself up," Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told journalists at his office here.
Yudhoyono said that Jakarta put a "legal solution" as its main priority in apprehending Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.
Tommy, 38, has been on the run from the law for 12 days since he was declared a fugitive on November 3 after failing to surrender to authorities to serve an 18-month jail term for corruption.
Yudhoyono also said that should tommy be willing to surrender himself, police would guarantee his "safety and security" as a convicted criminal.
"I've said it many times that if Tommy Suharto feels threatened and that his safety is unprotected if he serves his sentence, such an issue could be communicated with the police," he said.
The minister added it would be "very harmful" to Indonesia's credibility if police ultimately failed to immediately arrest Tommy.
Last week, police and prosecutors spent a fruitless four hours searching the homes of Suharto, Tommy and four of his siblings "Mamiek" Siti Hutami Endang, Tutut, and brothers Sigit Harjoyudanto and Bambang Trihatmojo.
On Tuesday, a similar search for Tommy including a second foray into the elder Suharto's house which is interconnected to those of his children in Jakarta's residential District of Menteng also came up empty handed.
Prosecutors on Tuesday also seized Tommy's 1,317 square meter house to be used as collateral in case he could not or refused to pay his 30 billion rupiah (3.23 million dollar) fine, which was handed down with the 18-month jail sentence.
The Supreme Court on September 22 overturned acquittals by two lower courts and found Tommy and his business partner Richard Gelael guilty of causing the state 10.7 million dollars in losses through a land swap scam.
If jailed, Tommy a one-time womanizer, now married with a child would be the first in the family to be put behind bars since Suharto was ousted.
He and his five siblings control some of the country's biggest conglomerates, obtained prior to their father's fall.