Indonesian President Rejects to Give Pardon to Soeharto's Youngest SonIndonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid here Thursday officially rejected to give pardon against Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, clearing the way for the South Jakarta District Attorney's Office to arrest the former president's son.A presidential spokesman, Wimar Witoelar, told reporters at the State Palace that a presidential decree signed by the president also rejected to pardon Tommy's business partner Ricardo Gelael. The two were found guilty in a multi-million graft scandal in 1997. Tommy was earlier on Thursday expected to be arrested by the South Jakarta District Attorney's Office. But he refused to attend the hearing, saying he should wait the president's decision on a pardon's appeal filed by him last month. Meanwhile, Minister of Justice and Human Right Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that the issuance of the decree has cleared the way for the South Jakarta Attorney's Office to send Tommy in jail, indicating "Friday is the earliest day for the execution of Tommy. " He said that the government would not intervene into the case. Tommy, 38 year old, was found guilty in a multi-million graft scandal involving the State Logistic Agency (Bulog) three years ago which caused more than 10 million U.S. dollars in losses to the state. The Supreme Court in late September sentenced Tommy to 18 months in jail. But he filed a pardon to the president. Separately, Head of the South Jakarta Attorney's Office Antazari Azhar said that a copy of presidential decree was on the way to his office, saying that on Thursday (today) his office will send a summon letter to Tommy for the execution on Friday. "If Tommy refuses to surrender voluntarily, we will take him by force," he said. |
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