Court Throws Out Fraud Conviction of Suharto’s Son

The Supreme Court unexpectedly reversed itself Monday and threw out its corruption conviction of the country’s most wanted man: Hutomo Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former dictator Suharto.

It is unlikely, however, that he will surface after nearly a year as a fugitive. Police want to question him about his possible role in a series of bombings and the assassination of the Supreme Court judge who found him guilty on the corruption charges a year ago.

The inability of the police to capture the onetime multimillionaire playboy has been a major embarrassment. Authorities recently used helicopters to shower Jakarta, the capital, with leaflets showing him wearing a beard and allegedly going by the name Ibrahim, but to no avail.

Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf, a national police spokesman, said he was surprised by the court ruling but insisted that police will continue to hunt for the fugitive, who is better known here as Tommy.

“We will keep searching for Tommy and arrest him for other cases, like the assassination of the Supreme Court judge, Syaifudin Kartasasmita, and the possession of illegal weapons and ammunition,” he said.

Tommy was convicted a year ago for his part in an $11-million land scam and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He went into hiding after the conviction was announced.

On Monday, the court said it had reversed its previous ruling because of new evidence showing that Tommy was not a commissioner of the company involved in the theft at the time that the crime occurred.

While on the run, Tommy has been accused of committing a variety of crimes to destabilize the government and perhaps secure a reprieve from a friendlier regime.

Police say he masterminded the murder of Kartasasmita, who was gunned down in July by men on motorcycles while driving to his office.

According to the judge’s wife, Tommy had offered a $200,000 bribe to secure acquittal last year but Kartasasmita refused to accept it. Two men arrested in the slaying told police that Tommy had paid $10,000 for the attack on the judge.

Tommy also has been identified as a suspect in some of the country’s biggest bombings, including a blast at the Jakarta Stock Exchange last year that killed 15 people.

Tommy’s lawyers said they had told the Suharto family of the court decision and hope that the 39-year-old fugitive will soon return home.

“We can see that the Supreme Court is independent,” said Elza Syarif, one of his attorneys. “They are not influenced by rumors or other problems. The Supreme Court just looked at the legal facts.”

Although the elder Suharto and his family allegedly siphoned off billions of dollars in government funds during the former dictator’s 32-year reign, Tommy was the only family member to have been convicted on corruption charges.

Charges against Suharto in a separate corruption case were dropped after judges agreed that the 80-year-old ex-general was too ill to stand trial.

Police have been so anxious to find Tommy that at one point they searched Suharto’s bedroom and dug under the former president’s house in the hope of finding a hidden bunker. Some allege that members of the military still loyal to the Suharto clan have helped hide Tommy.

Saleh, the police spokesman, said Tommy would have to explain himself to the police before he would be allowed to walk free.

“This ruling does not stop the police from investigating other cases involving Tommy,” he said. “As long as there is no clarification from him, nor any questioning of him, we will keep searching for him.”