Prosecutors seek jail for Tommy Suharto

Tommy (left) has denied all the charges

Indonesian prosecutors have demanded that former dictator Suharto's youngest son Tommy be sentenced to 15 years in jail for allegedly ordering a judge's assassination.

The demand was less severe than expected, since prosecutors were entitled to call for life imprisonment and even death.

The call was criticised by Tommy Suharto's supporters as unreasonable and attacked by others as a fix.

The defendant... is guilty of ordering or persuading (others) to murder the judge

Chief prosecutor Madani

The court is due to decide whether he is guilty later this month. Under Indonesian law, judges can ignore the prosecution's demand, though with guilty verdicts, they usually hand down lighter sentences than called for.

Tommy Suharto - whose real name is Hutomo Mandala Putra - denies all charges of masterminding the murder of Supreme Court judge Syafiuddin Kartasasmita last July.

Prosecutors argued that the evidence against him was overwhelming. They cited witness testimony, weapons found and documents linking Tommy to the crime.

At the time, Tommy was on the run from a jail sentence handed down by the judge for a corruption conviction.

Tommy has admitted meeting the judge in October 2000, soon after the judge had upheld the conviction, but denied threatening him or ordering his killing.

"I would never do that," Tommy said when asked if he ordered the judge's murder.

High profile

Tommy Suharto went on the run in November 2000 to avoid an 18-month prison sentence.

Police made several bungled attempts to catch him, in what was a huge embarrassment for the authorities and led to accusations they were protecting him.

The new twist came when Judge Kartasasmita was gunned down in broad daylight on 26 July 2001. Two men who say Tommy hired them have been convicted for the killing.

Tommy has said he did not know the two men. He also denied charges of owning illegal weapons or being a fugitive from justice.

His high-profile trial, which began in March, is one of a series of trials seen as a test of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's pledge to clean up the legal system.