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Convicted Suharto Son Goes Missing
Indonesia's head of state called for calm on Saturday after officials postponed a manhunt for ex-dictator Suharto's youngest son who is hiding from arrest and imprisonment for corruption.
State prosecutors denied suggestions that they were not doing enough to haul in Hutomo ''Tommy'' Mandala Putra, 38, who once controlled a vast business empire under his father's patronage, but who is now evading an 18-month jail sentence.
The multimillionaire playboy went missing after an arrest warrant was issued on Friday.
Angry prosecutors at that time said he would be declared a fugitive and a full-scale search would be launched early Saturday morning.
However, senior prosecutor Antasari Ashar later said this had been delayed until 6am on Monday in line with standard procedures.
''I hope the people will remain calm while the police and authorities look for him,'' said President Abdurrahman Wahid, who refused to grant Tommy clemency on Thursday and opened the way for his imprisonment.
In the past, pro-democracy protesters and students have taken to the streets to demand that Suharto and his children be punished for corruption.
Mr Antasari said the case was being handled correctly.
''We are not going soft on Tommy,'' he said.
''Intelligence officers from the attorney-general's office and the police are looking for him. I'm asking him to give himself up. We have the power to arrest him by force.''
Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman, as well as Tommy's defence lawyers, said he is still believed to be in Jakarta. He is officially banned from leaving the country.
The Supreme Court convicted him on September 22 of being involved in a land scam that cost the government US$11 million (HK$84.7 million). He is to serve time at Jakarta's Cipinang Prison, a maximum security facility where his father's authoritarian regime once locked up political prisoners.
Tommy has denied any wrongdoing and has filed an appeal against the verdict, which overturned his acquittal in a lower court several months earlier.
An arrest warrant was issued on Friday after a mix-up in paperwork. However, prosecutors and police found no sign of Tommy when they arrived at his central Jakarta mansion, located around the corner from Suharto's residence.
There is speculation that Tommy might be sheltering in one of many houses owned by the family of the ex-leader, who ruled Indonesia for 32 years and was ousted from power in 1998.
However, officials said there were no plans to search those properties at this stage.
There were also unconfirmed suggestions that he might be on a private island in Jakarta Bay.
A co-defendant in Tommy's case, Riccardo Gelael, surrendered himself to authorities on Friday night and began his 18-month sentence.
Tommy is the first member of Suharto's superrich clan convicted for graft and his case is regarded as vital to an anti-corruption campaign by Mr Wahid. It assumed greater symbolic importance after the state failed to prosecute Suharto on separate corruption charges.
Protests erupted six weeks ago when doctors declared the former president unfit to face trial. Suharto, 79, was accused of stealing a fortune in public funds.
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