Jakarta – A court yesterday found the youngest son of former president Suharto innocent of two corruption charges involving a shady land deal after a six-month trial.
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, 37, was the first member of Indonesia's former first family to be prosecuted for graft.
A three-judge panel handed down the not-guilty verdict as large anti-government and anti-corruption demonstrations erupted across the capital.
"The charges made by the prosecution cannot be proved," said presiding Judge Soenarto. Judge Soenarto said the case involved a business deal covered by civil not criminal law.
Mr Hutomo, who dozed off as the lengthy ruling was being read, smiled but said nothing when the verdict was announced to the cheers of about 200 supporters who crammed the South Jakarta District Court room or waited outside.
Prosecutors had argued Mr Hutomo enriched himself and engineered a loss for the Indonesian state of about US$10.8 million (HK$84.24 million) through a 1995 land-swap deal involving one of his companies and a state food agency, in violation of an anti-corruption law enacted by his father in 1971. "We are planning to file an appeal," said state prosecutor Fachmai.
The verdict is bound to have major political ramifications. It was delivered as police were firing tear-gas at thousands of students and other protesters demonstrating near Parliament against the Government and its apparent unwillingness to crack down on alleged corruption by the Suharto family.
Mr Hutomo's verdict also came six days before Indonesia's highest legislative body is to choose the country's next president.
During Mr Hutomo's trial, prosecutors alleged that his company, PT Goro Batara Sakti, and the state food agency, Bulog, struck an illegal land-swap deal in 1995. Under the agreement, Goro built a shopping mall on land in north Jakarta that it had acquired from Bulog.
But Goro failed to live up to its part of the bargain and did not give Bulog another block of land elsewhere in Jakarta in return. Mr Hutomo later sold his stake in Goro without paying Bulog back.