JAKARTA, 26 July 2002 - An Indonesian court has found the younger son of former President Suharto guilty of murder and weapons possession. Tommy Suharto was convicted of masterminding the assassination of a judge who ordered him jailed for corruption. The five-judge panel sitting in Jakarta also convicted him for illegal possession of weapons. Tommy Suharto was jailed for 15 years in the trial, which has been seen as a key test of a legal system denounced as corrupt.
But neither Tommy nor his defence lawyers were in the courtroom to hear the judgement after they failed to win a delay earlier. Chief Judge Amiruddin Zakaria overruled a defence request for a two-day adjournment to allow Tommy to recover from diarrhoea and dizziness, prompting a walkout from the defence team. Judge Zakaria told the lawyers: "We won't give you any more opportunities to talk." That prompted applause from the packed public gallery. After he dismissed the defence request, Judge Zakaria began reading a lengthy document summarising the trial evidence on the charges of murder, weapons possession and evading justice.

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