Suharto son jailed for planning murder of judge

The youngest son of the former Indonesian dictator Suharto has been jailed for 15 years for paying two hitmen to murder a judge.

In addition to murder, Hutomo Mandala Putra, better known as Tommy, was found guilty of illegal weapons possession and fleeing justice.

Judge Andi Samsan Nganro said Tommy paid £6,000 to the two hitmen and instructed them to kill the judge who had sentenced him to a prison term for bribery.

The murder trial was considered a test of post-Suharto Indonesia's ability to overhaul a notoriously corrupt judicial system.

"It is true that the defendant instructed them to commit a criminal act and in fact the two carried it out," Judge Nganro said, adding that the handgun used to kill the judge has been shown to belong to Tommy.