Experts warn of possible wave of student protests<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Legal experts have warned that students could
\nreturn to the streets if the government of President B.J. Habibie
\ncontinued stalling the corruption investigations against former
\ntop officials, including ex-president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
The government's credibility and reputation are at stake,
\nBambang Widjojanto, the chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nInstitute Foundation, and Hendardi, chairman of the Indonesia
\nLegal Aid and Human Rights Association, said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
People would lose confidence in the law-enforcement agencies
\nif none of the corruption suspects are ever tried, and students
\nwould take to the streets to demand justice, they said.<\/p>\n
The major corruption cases that should be given priority are
\nones involving Soeharto, former chief of the State Logistics
\nAgency (Bulog) Beddu Amang, and former attorney general Andi M.
\nGhalib, they said.<\/p>\n
\"President Habibie's score sheet would look bad if he failed
\nto bring these people to court. People would simply stop
\nbelieving in him,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
Hendardi said slow investigations would damage Habibie's
\ncredibility.<\/p>\n
The investigation into Soeharto's wealth gathered momentum
\nlast month after Time magazine suggested that the former
\nstrongman and his family had amassed a fortune of some US$15
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
The Time articles led Ghalib, then still in office, and
\nMinister of Justice Muladi to Switzerland and Austria to speak
\nwith bank officials there. The two men returned empty-handed, and
\nwere told that the banks could consider their request for help
\nonly if an Indonesian court had named Soeharto a suspect.<\/p>\n
Beddu Amang's corruption charges were dropped by the South
\nJakarta District Court for lack of evidence. He had earlier been
\nimplicated in a land deal involving Soeharto's youngest son,
\nHutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra, and businessman Ricardo Gelael.<\/p>\n
Ghalib was forced to resign from the Attorney General's Office
\nin the wake of allegations that he had received large sums of
\nmoney from businessmen who were being investigated for
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
Ghalib said the transfers were donations by the businessmen
\nfor the Indonesian Wrestling Association, which he chairs.<\/p>\n
Domino affect<\/p>\n
Bambang admitted that the investigation of these three men
\nwould be difficult because their cases could implicate government
\nofficials still in power.<\/p>\n
\"(Officials) are protecting the former officials since they
\nmay have been involved in the corruption cases,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bringing the former officials to the courts, Hendardi said,
\nwould reveal the participation of other people still in office.<\/p>\n
\"It would have a domino affect. Many government officials
\nwould be implicated,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hendardi said significant progress could only be expected once
\na new and democratically elected government was in place.<\/p>\n
But he doubted whether the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan), which is emerging the winner in this
\nmonth's elections, would be serious in bringing Soeharto to court
\non charges of corruption.<\/p>\n
Bambang said he also had his doubts that PDI Perjuangan would
\nswiftly bring the corruption cases to court.<\/p>\n
PDI-Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri has refused
\nto join the chorus of condemnation against Soeharto and his
\nfamily, saying that she did not wish them to go through what she
\nhad to in the late 1960s.<\/p>\n
Megawati is daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno,
\nwho was impeached and disgraced by Soeharto himself.<\/p>\n
Bambang warned that it would be unwise for the new elected
\ngovernment to go against the people's wish to have Soeharto and
\nother officials tried in court.<\/p>\n
\"If the party (PDI Perjuangan) does not listen to the people's
\ndemands, I doubt that it can survive for a five-year term,\" he
\nsaid.(jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/experts-warn-of-possible-wave-of-student-protests-1447893297",
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