Jakarta – An Indonesian court on Monday charged two alleged hitmen with murdering a Supreme Court judge on orders from Tommy Suharto, a son of the former president.

Novel Hadad, 27, and R. Mulawarman, 39, were charged in Central Jakarta district court with murdering Safiuddin Kartasasmita – the judge who had ordered Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra jailed over a corrupt land deal.

Since Tommy's arrest last November 28 police have been questioning him about allegations he ordered the murder. They were due Monday to give prosecutors a dossier on the interrogation so they can decide on possible charges.

Suhardi Sumomulyono, a lawyer for Hadad and Mulawarman, told AFP they were accused of premeditated murder and of possessing weapons – both punishable by death.

Prosecutor Abdul Kamar Badrun accused the two, who had been riding a motorcycle, of having forced the judge's car to halt in Central Jakarta while he was on his way to work. Hadad, the pillion passenger, allegedly shot at the car at least four times and killed the judge. Both fled on the motorcycle.

The prosecutor said Mulawarman received the order for the murder by telephone from a friend of Tommy, Dodi Harjito. He was promised 10,000 dollars in return and was given two handguns and the motorcycle. Mulawarman then recruited his friend Hadad.

Badrun said they met Tommy several times and talked to him by telephone during the planning of the murder.

The hearing was adjourned until next Monday. Under Indonesian law, defendants do not plead guilty or not guilty at the start of a hearing. Harjito will appear separately at the same court Wednesday.

Kartasasmita headed the Supreme Court panel which ordered Tommy jailed for 18 months. Tommy went on the run for almost a year after failing to turn himself in to serve the sentence, but was arrested last November.

A separate Supreme Court panel subsequently cleared him of the corruption charge but judges say he should serve time in prison for his 11 months as a fugitive.

Police have said they are also questioning Tommy about a weapons cache allegedly linked to him and about a series of bombings in Jakarta over the past year.