House arrest 'viable option' for Soeharto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman acknowledged
\non Thursday that house arrest was a viable option which could be
\nimposed on former president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
When asked by journalists, Marzuki said here on Thursday a
\ndecision to impose house arrest could be taken as soon as a
\nmedical team from the Attorney General's Office had been able to
\ndetermine the former president's state of health.<\/p>\n
\"The plan now is to set up the medical team ... to be able to
\nverify the former president's health and then subsequently we
\nwill have to make a decision on the next legal step that will be
\nrequired,\" Marzuki told reporters after speaking at a seminar on
\nanticorruption and business ethics.<\/p>\n
When pressed whether the next legal step would be imposing
\nhouse arrest on Soeharto, Marzuki said, \"Soeharto is a suspect
\nand theoretically the law provides that a suspect may be detained
\nfor legal reasons.\"<\/p>\n
\"I am simply saying this as a matter of formality or legality,
\nrather than any immediate decision to do that\".<\/p>\n
Marzuki said on Wednesday a medical team would soon be sent to
\nverify Soeharto's health after the former president failed to
\nanswer a summons for questioning at the Attorney General's
\nOffice.<\/p>\n
Soeharto's lawyers and doctors officially submitted a letter
\nclaiming their client was physically and mentally too ill to face
\nthe questioning.<\/p>\n
The summons was reportedly issued as a result of new evidence
\nuncovered into allegations that Soeharto misused power to amass
\nwealth in the 32 years he was in power.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said on Thursday the evidence was actually not
\nentirely new, as it \"had been assembled and suppressed\" at the
\nAttorney General's Office for quite some time.<\/p>\n
\"This new information has been (at the Attorney General's
\noffice) for a long time, it has only been able to surface because
\nof nonintervention by the (present) government in allowing the
\ninformation to come up to the decision making process,\" Marzuki
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
When asked how long the Attorney General's Office would need
\nto complete the investigation, Marzuki said, \"We can't schedule
\nthat because we are starting from newly found evidence which has
\nbeen there all along.\"<\/p>\n
Separately, Soeharto's step brother Probosutedjo was quoted by
\nAntara as saying on Thursday that he welcomed Marzuki's plan to
\nsend a medical team, but claimed that the former president was
\nvery ill.<\/p>\n
Probosutedjo said he payed regular visits to Soeharto's
\nresidence, and claimed that the last time he met the former
\npresident he was incapable of talking.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, a spokesman for the Attorney General's
\nOffice said the medical team had yet to be set up, but added that
\nit could consist of doctors from Cipto Mangunkusumo General
\nHospital.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who has repeatedly denied allegations that he
\namassed a fortune during his reign, was twice hospitalized last
\nyear for a stroke and intestinal bleeding. (01\/byg)<\/p>",
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