Received from Joyo Indonesian News

Agence France-Presse December 20, 2001

Indonesian police question Timorese as witness in Tommy Suharto case

Indonesian police have questioned former East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres in connection with criminal charges against former president Suharto's youngest son Tommy.

"Eurico has been summonsed as a witness in the illegal weapons possession case against Tommy Suharto," Jakarta police spokesman Alex Mandalika told AFP Thursday.

"We have evidence in the form of a personal letter that was discovered in August at the south Jakarta house used by Tommy, where weapons and ammunition were also found."

Tommy has been charged with possession of illegal weapons, munitions and explosives following the discovery of caches in a Jakarta house and an apartment where he allegedly stayed during his eleven months on the run from police.

He is also suspected of playing a role in the murder of a Supreme Court judge who sentenced him to 18 months jail in September last year for a graft conviction.

Mandalika said Guterres arrived for questioning at the Jakarta police headquarters around 0930 am (0330 GMT).

"We're hoping he can tell us who the weapons belong to," the spokesman said.

Guterres was accompanied by Tommy's lawyer Elza Syarief, Detikcom reported.

The long-haired former leader of the feared Dili-based 'Aitarak' (Thorn) militia told journalists that he only knew of Tommy "as a son of the nation, not personally."

Guterres is a suspect for gross human rights violations committed in East Timor during the former Indonesian province's vote for independence in 1999.

Tommy's months on the run came to an end in November when he was arrested in a south Jakarta house.

The Supreme Court has subsequently dropped the graft conviction he was on the run from, but has nevertheless recommended that he serve time in prison for his eleven months as a fugitive.

The former millionaire playboy is in police detention on the separate charges of murder and illegal weapons possession. He is accused of ordering the drive-by assassination in July of judge Syafiuddin Kartasasmita.

Police said they were also questioning him for possible hand in a series of bombings in Jakarta in the past year.

Police said Wednesday they had compiled the dossiers on Tommy's murder case and would review it with public prosecutors on December 26, the official Antara newsagency reported.

City police chief Commissioner General Sofyan Yacob said he expected the case to be handed over to the courts in January.

"The questioning of Tommy is almost complete, perhaps at the beginning of January the files and the suspect can be presented to court," Yacob was quoted as saying.

Back to December menu
November
World Leaders Contact List
Human Rights Violations in East Timor
Main Postings Menu