Indonesian police on Tuesday launched a manhunt for the youngest son of former president Suharto, who has managed to dodge a jail sentence for more than six weeks.
Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said he had ordered the arrest of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra after he failed to surrender to the authorities by midnight (1700 GMT) Monday and was subsequently declared a fugitive.
"At 3:30 this morning I ordered the police to arrest Tommy," Darusman told journalists.
The chief of the South Jakarta district attorney office, Antasari Azhar, said police and prosecutors had been assigned to search for Tommy at his houses in the capital.
"The search (to find Tommy) is now going on," Azhar told journalists. "We will keep searching until he's found."
Azhar said prison authorities have given assurances that Tommy, known to be a one-time womanizer, would be protected from harm once he was in jail.
Tommy's lawyers said he was refusing to go to jail because he had received an anonymous death threat by telephone. And they claimed they did not know the whereabouts of the wealthy 38-year-old business magnate.
Darusman said he believed Tommy was in Cendana Street, in the posh residential quarter of Menteng where the Suharto family have their homes. But an AFP reporter there at 1:00 p.m (0600 GMT) saw no sign of police activity.
National police chief General Suroyo Bimantoro has said his forces are on standby to arrest Tommy if asked, after Azhar said his office would use force to bring Tommy to jail.
Tommy has remained at liberty since being found guilty of corruption by the Supreme Court on September 22 and sentenced to 18-months jail.
His business partner Richard Gelael, also found guilty of causing the state 10.7 million dollars in losses through a land swap scam, turned himself in on Friday to start serving his term.
Tommy's lawyers have urged prosecutors to ensure that special quarters are provide in Cipinang high-security jail in East Jakarta to guarantee their client's security.
And they sought to delay his imprisonment Monday arguing they had not received the original of a presidential decree rejecting Tommy's demand for a pardon.
They said the copy they received was not legally acceptable.
Prosecutors arrived armed with an arrest warrant at Tommy's residence in Central Jakarta on Friday, only to find he had already fled.
If jailed, Tommy -- who is married with one child -- would be the first in the family to be put behind bars since his father was ousted amid mass demonstrations against his rule and a crippling economic crisis in May 1998.
He, along with the five other Suharto siblings, controls some of the country's biggest conglomerates, obtained prior to their father's fall.
A higher court is looking into an appeal by prosecutors against the dismissal of a case brought against the elder Suharto, who is accused of massive corruption during his 32-years of autocratic rule.
The South Jakarta district court in September dismissed the case after doctors announced that the former dictator was physically and mentally unfit to stand trial.
Suharto failed to appear at all three sessions of his trial -- JAKARTA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
