Tommy Suharto in $2m bribe allegation

Tommy spent more than a year on the run

The lawyer acting for Tommy Suharto, the son of the former Indonesian president, has said he handed over almost two-million dollars in a bid to gain a presidential pardon to escape corruption charges.

The lawyer, Elza Syarief, said the money was handed over to two men thought to be close to the then-President Abdurrahman Wahid in October 2000.

At the time, Tommy Suharto was on the run after failing to turn himself in to serve an 18-month prison sentence for corruption, which has since been overturned.

But Mr Wahid's brother Sulahaddin Wahid told the BBC that the then-president had not received any money and was unfamiliar with the two men.

Both men deny receiving any money.

Tommy Suharto was arrested in November. He is being detained for suspected involvement in the murder of a supreme court judge and for suspected firearm possession.

Police said they were also questioning over possible involvement in a series of bombings in Jakarta last year.