Indonesia's chief Supreme Court judge said today former president Suharto's son Hutomo Tommy Mandala Putra must do prison time to make up for his period as a fugitive.
Supreme Court Chief Judge Bagir Manan said this would apply even though the court overturned Tommy's conviction last October.
Judge Manan said in a statement at a news conference the court's view is Tommy, who went on the run from an 18-month jail sentence, must spend time in jail equal to the period from November 2000, when former president Mr Abdurrahman Wahid rejected Tommy's plea for clemency, to October 2001, when the court overturned its ruling.
"With his plea rejected he must abide to the sentence . . . but at that time he ran. After his plea was sent, Tommy tried to submit a review request but that cannot halt [the sentencing]," Judge Manan said.
"So Tommy must do his jail sentence [from the time the plea was rejected] until the time ruling was overturned," he said.