Judiciary must decide on Soeharto: ICW<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A prominent corruption watchdog questioned
\nPresident B.J. Habibie's plan to declare the legal status of
\nformer president Soeharto, under investigation for alleged
\ncorruption, saying the authority belongs to the judiciary rather
\nthan to the head of administration.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) conceded Habibie was
\ncurrently the holder of a mandate of the People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR) to, among other things, investigate Soeharto and
\nhis cronies.<\/p>\n
However, ICW lawyer Iskandar Sonhadji said that \"under the
\nlaw, a person can be given certain legal status if there's
\nalready a court decision\".<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, the plan of Habibie as the head of administration
\nto decide Soeharto's legal status is overstepping into the
\njudiciary's authority,\" he said as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Sonhadji and fellow ICW lawyers Apong Herlina, Ida L. Warouw
\nand Marsaulina Manurung met on Wednesday with Deputy Attorney
\nGeneral for Special Crimes Ramelan. During the meeting, the
\nlawyers criticized the Attorney General's Office for limiting its
\ninvestigations to a number of foundations that Soeharto chaired
\nand the national car project.<\/p>\n
Because the investigations have not been thorough, the ICW
\nlawyers said, Habibie did not have adequate grounds to rule on
\nSoeharto's legal status.<\/p>\n
They said that if Habibie wanted to proceed regardless, he
\ncould bring corruption charges against Soeharto over the former
\npresident's decrees on clove trade which granted a monopoly to
\nhis youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra. The ICW lawyers suspected
\nthe trade had between 1992-1996 enriched Hutomo, or Tommy as he
\nis widely known, by Rp 2 trillion (about US$270).<\/p>\n
Separately, another ICW lawyer, Bambang Widjojanto, blasted
\nHabibie's government for its inconsistent stance on Soeharto's
\ncase.<\/p>\n
Speaking in the South Sulawesi capital of Ujungpandang,
\nBambang said Habibie had confused political interests with legal
\nmatters when dealing with Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"Soeharto's alleged corruption is strictly a legal matter and
\nnot politics,\" Bambang said. \"President Habibie and Minister of
\nJustice Muladi should clarify their stance, whether they wish to
\nsolve the matter in a political manner or through legal
\nprocedures.\"<\/p>\n
Commenting on Habibie's wish to announce on Thursday his final
\ndecision regarding the sluggish investigation into the Soeharto
\ncase, Bambang said that if Habibie chose to take a political
\napproach, \"it would only prove that Habibie's government is
\ndiscriminative and inconsistent\".<\/p>\n
Such inconsistency would set a bad precedent in law
\nenforcement against corruption in the country, said Bambang, who
\nis also chairman of the Ethics Board of the Indonesian Corruption
\nWatch.<\/p>\n
The government has been under mounting pressure to speed up
\nthe probe by naming Soeharto a suspect for corruption charges
\nduring his 32 years of iron-fisted rule. Observers, however, have
\nspeculated that Habibie, who is Soeharto's former protege, would
\nbe reluctant to take a firm stance against the ailing former
\nruler.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 18, Muladi hinted that the investigation into Soeharto
\nmay be dropped due to a lack of evidence. The remarks came
\nseveral days after Soeharto was rushed to Pertamina Hospital with
\nintestinal bleeding, less than a month after hospitalization for
\na mild stroke. (27\/edt\/har\/swe)<\/p>",
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