An Indonesian court today jailed Tommy Suharto, youngest son of the former dictator, for 15 years for the contract murder of a judge who had ordered him jailed and for weapons possession.
"The panel of judges declares that Hutomo (Tommy) Mandala Putra has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing the crimes," said Chief Judge Amiruddin Zakaria at the end of one of the most dramatic trials in Indonesian legal history.
Suharto, who was absent from court due to what was described as a diarrhoea attack, was convicted of ordering the drive-by shooting of Judge Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who in September 2000 had ordered him jailed for 18 months for a corrupt land deal.
The sentence was passed a year to the day after the judge was gunned down by two hitmen while driving to work.
Suharto, a millionaire playboy tycoon during his father's rule, was also convicted of possessing two caches of arms and explosives found in properties linked to him and of fleeing from justice.
In November 2000 he had gone on the run to avoid serving the graft sentence but was captured a year later.
He was jailed for a total of 15 years on all charges, the sentence which prosecutors had requested. The two actual hitmen were in May jailed for life.
The trial, which began March 20th, was seen as a key test of Indonesia's unpredictable and corruption-prone legal system and its fledgling democracy.
AFP