The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A panel of judges handling a land swap case involving Soeharto's youngest son has asked all parties to seek a possible out-of-court settlement, presiding judge Haswandi said.
The panel of judges has appointed judge Edi Risdianto as mediator for the case, as per a Supreme Court regulation that stipulates mediation must be attempted.
The first negotiation meeting would be held at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday to discuss the state prosecutor's proposal.
But Dachamer Munthe said his state prosecution team was still deliberating the proposal.
One of Tommy's lawyers, Elza Syarief, said they would study the prosecution's proposal before they discussed it further with their client.
The Attorney General's Office filed a civil lawsuit on Aug. 22 against Hutomo ""Tommy"" Mandala Putra in response to a ruling by a court in Guernsey.
The court on the British island off the northern French coast ordered on May 23 the Indonesian government prove the 35 million euros attached to Tommy's Garnet Investment Company had been raised via illegal activities.
The Guernsey court gave the Indonesian government until the end of 2007 to prove Tommy had been involved in illegal activity.
The Guernsey court has agreed to continue withholding Tommy's funds now held at the BNP Paribas branch in Guernsey.
Further suspects in the civil case involving PT Goro Batara Sakti include PT Goro's commissioner Ricardo Gelael and former State Logistics Agency (Bulog) chief Beddu Amang.
The prosecution has ordered the two men and Tommy to repay Rp 500 billion (US$55 million) in alleged state losses.
The case started in 1996 when PT Goro, one of Tommy's companies and one of the country's biggest retailers at that time, set up a land swap agreement with Bulog.
Bulog had agreed to give PT Goro a warehouse complex occupying 50 hectares of land in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, in exchange for some 125,000 hectares of land in Marunda, also in North Jakarta.
Later, in a criminal court proceeding, prosecutors presented evidence to show the land was half swamp.
The Supreme Court, however, approved Tommy's request for a case review in 2001 and then acquitted him of all graft charges. (10)
