Jakarta – A witness in the trial of Tommy Suharto, a son of the former Indonesian dictator, on Wednesday admitted that he had lied in court and received 210 dollars from a defense lawyer, the official Antara news agency said.

Rahmat Hidayat, a former security guard at an apartment block allegedly used by Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, was arrested by police on Sunday. They accused him of perjury by denying in a court session last week his earlier statement to police which implicated Tommy in a weapons cache found in the building.

"I regret having given false information by saying I didn't sign the statement. I did sign it," Hidayat was quoted by Antara as telling reporters at Jakarta police headquarters. He said he had received two million rupiah (210 dollars) from Tommy's chief lawyer, Elza Syarief, and was told by her to deny having signed the statement. Syarief has denied the accusation.

Hidayat said he would tell the truth in a future court session if he received police protection.

Hidayat testified in relation to the discovery of documents in a safe at the Cemara Apartments, where weapons allegedly belonging to Tommy were found. But he said he did not witness the weapon discovery. Two other guards at the apartment complex also retracted their statements during last week's trial and denied they had signed police statements implicating Tommy. Police have said they are also searching for the two other guards who were also suspected of perjury.

Tommy, a former millionaire playboy, is charged with ordering the July 2001 drive-by killing of a Supreme Court judge who had sentenced him to jail on a graft conviction, and with illegal possession of weapons. He could face the death penalty if convicted on either charge,

Police allege they discovered a cache of weapons when they raided the central Jakarta Cemara Apartments on August 5, 2001, and a second cache of weapons in a later raid on a south Jakarta house allegedly used by Tommy.