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[INLINE] Smoke screen clouds Tommy Suhartos link to bombings and
judges death
August 7, 2001 09:16 PM, Editor
Laksamana.Net - The Indonesian polices renewed efforts to capture the
youngest son of former president Suharto, Tommy Hutomo Madala Putra,
has raised new questions regarding the recent terror campaign and the
seriousness of the police in handling the crimes. The particular
question is, why would Tommy, in cahoots with the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM), launch such a campaign, as the police believe, at this
particular time when new President Megawati Sukarnoputri has yet to
take a stance on either?
The raids on Monday (6/8/20010 on two properties apparently owned by
Tommy, one in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, and the other in Menteng,
Central Jakarta, came out of the blue and caught the press and public
by surprise. Tommys case has disappeared from the headlines this year.
The billionaire playboy went on the run last November after being
sentenced to 18 months jail in a massive land swap/corruption case
involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). When he disappeared so
seamlessly, rumours persisted that Tommy had recorded negotiations
with former president Abdurrahman Wahid and that Wahid was cornered
into letting the case slide.
The raids put the case back in the headlines. At the properties,
police found two M-16 rifles, five handguns, 74 sticks of dynamite and
several grenades, according to Reuters, and ready-made bombs, assault
rifles, grenades, detonators and ammunition, according to AP. The
police also discovered fake ID cards, one of which showed Tommy in
full beard under the name Ibrahim, which they copied and passed on to
eager and amused journalists. The bombs and guns immediately inflamed
speculation on Tommys involvement in a spate of bombings, which have
rocked Indonesia since Suhartos fall from power in May 1998, as well
as the murder of the very judge who sentenced him to jail.
Indeed, past cases exist linking Tommy to bombings. For example, a
childhood friend was recently sentenced to 10 years jail for
attempting to place bombs at the Taman Mini Indonesia Theme Park in
Jakarta. The woman said she had received instructions from Tommy but
later withdrew the statements. Tommy and the leader of a notorious
radical Islamic group were bought in for questioning over the 13
September 2000 bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange, which killed 11
people and caused panic in the central business district. They were
later released for lack of evidence. The bombing of the Attorney
Generals Office in July 2000 was timed to coincide with Tommys
questioning over the Bulog case and Suhartos trial for corruption,
which was later dismissed due to the former dictators ill health.
Recently, smaller, apparently random bombings and numerous bomb scares
have become more frequent. Just to name a few, a small bomb exploded
at the Pondok Indah shopping mall last weekend, a powerful blast took
place at the house of Rev. John T. in Yogyakarta on Monday night and a
woman was killed buying food from a stall in front of a house in
Surabaya, capital of East Java province, early Tuesday morning
(7/8/2001).
Perhaps only the murder of a Supreme Court judge has shocked and
appalled the public more than the bombings. Either two or four men
riding motorcycles, depending on the news source, shot Syaifuddin
Kartasasmita while driving to work on 26 July. At one of the houses
raided, police also said they found documents mapping the homes of
three judges and outlining their routines, including that of
Syaifuddin Kartasasmita.
The AP news service said the police had detained 10 people in relation
to the case but gave no details. Amongst the detainees is Ny Tuti (35)
who was caught at the Cemara Apartments after a raid at the popular
Hotel Cemara, Central Jakarta, on Sunday night (5/8/2001). A 22m
Baretta, as well as an SS Styer, AK 47 and an M-16 were reportedly
seized in the raid. The administrator of the apartments and the womans
maid were also detained. The woman was reportedly a friend of the
runaway Tommy and some reports said he had been staying at the
apartments recently. All the evidence proves the involvement of Tommy
Suharto," said Jakarta Metropolitan police chief Inspector General
Sofjan Jacoeb at a late press conference Monday night.
Two others on the list were no doubt Rolan and Noval who were detained
separately on Monday night and early Tuesday morning. They confessed
Tuesday that they were instructed by Tommy Suharto to shoot the judge
and had received Rp 100 million. The police are continuing the hunt
for the accomplices.
Another on the list could be Agus Dias, Tommys chief bodyguard. At a
press conference Tuesday, Inspector General Sofjan Jacoeb told the
press that Agus and six underlings had been taken in on Saturday
(4/8/2001) after being found in a house on Jl. Yusuf Adiwinata, 4,
Menteng, with nine molotov cocktails, a cache of bullets and a gerican
full of petrol. They were released the following day. Agus presented
himself again to police Tuesday. He was also questioned in February
but was released for lack of evidence. Agus Diass name has been
mentioned on the rumourmill as one of the central figures in the
assassination.
It is ironic that the lack of evidence theme reappears again and again
while the culprits apparently took little action to clear away
incriminating evidence at target spots after the Saturday raid- before
police found even greater firepower lying around on Monday. Even
stranger, chief of the Jakarta detective unit Tirto Karnavian told the
detikcom website that Agus had said the molotov cocktails had been
found near Tommys house while the bullets were found in a nearby
rubbish bin and placed inside Agus bag.
The question mark hanging over Tommys operation- and the polices
ability to present the truth to the public- by no means stops there.
The question of Tommys motive arises again and again. One of Tommys
lawyers, Nudirman Munir told the Ramako radio station Tuesday that
Tommy refused to hand himself over to the police because he believes
he has been treated unfairly. Munir added, as reported by Reuters,
that Tommy felt there were political motives behind the moves to
arrest him. This gives rise to the question of why Tommy would plot
the murder of the judge almost a year after the verdict was handed
down when no further action was being taken against him- thereby
reigniting the publics interest in his whereabouts.
The question of motive was confused further by the news on Tuesday
that both the Speakers of the House and Assembly were on Tommys hit
list. Speaker of the Peoples Consultative Assembly Amien Rais told the
press that he had never known Tommy and that he wasnt sure if his role
as a prominent leader of the movement to oust his father was
sufficient reason to kill him. Rais, notorious as one of the central
figures in the impeachment of Wahid on 23 July, said he would consider
his next move without elaborating. Speaker of the House Akbar Tandjung
expressed similar disbelief. Tandjung is chairman of the Golkar Party,
which dominated Indonesian politics and made a fortune under the
Suharto regime together with the military. He told the press he
enjoyed good relations with the Suharto clan and was not exaggerating
when he added, I have never done anything to make me Tommys target.
The leak to the press concerning the hit list may be construed as
reinforcing the theory that a certain party is continuing to plot to
cause mass social, political and economic unrest for its own aims.
Throughout the history of the bombings and other incarnations of the
terror campaign, the police have always pointed the finger at the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM). GAM has fought a limited war for independence
against the central government since the mid-1970s and has indeed
raised its profile after Suharto fell due to increased press freedoms,
international lobby efforts and a series of negotiations in Geneva
under the Wahid administration.
Suspects from Aceh- with still unclear relations to GAM- have been
detained in relation to several bombings, including the Jakarta Stock
Exchange case. At Monday nights press conference, the police released
a letter outlining plans for bomb attacks written to Tommy Suharto by
a certain Gombloh bin Moh. Karim which they found during their raids.
While the method for disbursal and the intended locations were
indecipherable due to the use of code, the letter explicitly said that
the bombings would be carried out with the help of friends from GAM.
GAM rebel leaders continue to maintain that their campaign for
independence is limited to Aceh and that they have not plotted to
destabilise Jakarta. However, the organisation is splintering, largely
due to the failing health of its leader in exile. Furthermore, among
the Acehnese suspects detained over the bombing cases were acting or
former members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI). One suspect, from
the Armys Special Forces (Kopassus), escaped from jail last week and
his whereabouts remains unknown.
The fact that TNI personnel were linked to the bombings goes some way
to explaining why munitions from the TNIs arms supplier, PT Pindad in
West Java, were used in the terrorist attacks. If the military and
police have been consistent in their accusations of GAM, they have
been equally consistent in denying that the TNI is involved in the
bombings. Senior military leaders maintain that rogue elements and
individuals may be corrupting Pindad staff or obtaining the explosives
from bases after disbursal. Despite consistent assurances that the
serial numbers on the munitions may be traced, precious little
investigation has revealed next to nothing on their disappearance.
In terms of motive, military leaders have categorised the
participation of individual TNI personnel in the terror campaign into
two: the desire for personnel financial gain and the desire to avenge
family members or friends slaughtered by the TNI in Aceh. Clearly,
working with Tommy Suharto would be extremely beneficial to those in
the former category. Even for those in the latter, the motive of
fighting for Acehs independence movement runs a close second at best.
Nevertheless, the police and TNI maintain that GAM is utilising
disenfranchised Acehnese soldiers to do their dirty work in other
parts of Indonesia.
The question of Tommy and GAMs motives are compounded when one
considers just why the police have so suddenly stepped up their
efforts after months of inaction. Megawati Sukarnoputri was only
inducted as Indonesias fifth president on 23 July and has yet to from
a cabinet, much less formulate policy on the Suhartos and the
separatist movements threatening to eat away at the unity of the
republic. The demure Megawati has taken three trips out of the capital
while intense negotiations between her Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P) and the other parties continue over the cabinet
lineup.
Megawati has certainly taken time to meet TNI leaders and tackle the
issues closest to their interests. She was applauded internationally
this week for the decision to establish a human rights court in the
East Timor case with expanded jurisdiction over two additional
notorious attacks. And yet, on Monday, the very first day in her new
presidential offices, she met with the now retired General Wiranto,
the TNI commander throughout the East Timor destruction. The cases
involve the head of the Aitarak militia who is now head of the PDI-Ps
security task force: Eurico Guterres. Some have speculated that the
new focus on these cases is designed to sacrifice the militia leader
to the courts. Under such an arrangement, the high ranking generals
widely believed by the international community to be behind the
destruction stand a greater chance of dodging responsibility.
Interestingly, the ad hoc court system was the jurisdiction of the
slain judge.
Although Megawati has won kudos for some recent decisions, her
credentials as a strong leader remain in question. Much of the
negotiation over the cabinet has been taken over by senior PDI-P
leaders and it is possible that other areas may also be subject to the
hand of established mechanisms and networks. Megawati is known to be
more pro-military than her predecessor and to have close relations
with many senior TNI personnel who are also involved in the
negotiations over the cabinet. In short, she may not be the one
directly behind the public resurrection of the push to nab Tommy.
Indeed, she has maintained her sphinx-like silence on all matters
involving the Suhartos and many accuse her of being too heavily
influenced by the elite political culture of the Suharto regime with
its emphasis on national unity and an aversion to dredging up the
crimes of the past.
Observers remain baffled by the distractions of the renewed hunt for
Tommy. From the naming of Rais and Tandjung on the hit list, the coded
letter mentioning GAM, the new arrests and the unfolding intrigues
down to the photo of Tommy as Ibrahim, the press and public are
lapping it up. But while they are drawn by the promise of a
breakthrough, little about the case indicates there is a real will to
catch Tommy. He has gone free for too long and the sudden push has not
been sufficiently explained by the police or government authorities.
It seems illogical that Megawati herself would prioritise Tommys
capture at the very beginning of what seems set to be a coalition
government riddled with partisan interests. Tommy, although not his
father, is by no means friendless in the parliament or military. In
addition, why risk public chaos when pressure on Tommy and the
Suhartos has time and again been met with renewed bomb attacks,
although, of course, no definite connection has ever been made? This
leads to the question, if Megawati is not behind the push, what
interests are? The ones with the most to gain from setting off the
smoke screen are also interested in pressuring Megawati to cut them a
more beneficial deal in the months ahead.
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