Lopa plans to file lawsuit against Soeharto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Seeking a much needed breakthrough in the
\nstalled prosecution of Soeharto, Attorney General Baharuddin Lopa
\nreiterated here on Tuesday his plans to seek an alternative legal
\nroute by filing a civil lawsuit against the former president.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the launching of the book \"Soeharto's Trial\",
\nLopa said such a move would be beneficial for all concerned as it
\nwould provide \"legal certainty\" for both Soeharto himself and the
\nnation.<\/p>\n
The question of bringing the former president to book is one
\nof the biggest tests that Lopa will have to face, after his
\npredecessor Marzuki Darusman's efforts to have Soeharto tried for
\nallegedly abusing power by amassing wealth through various
\nfoundations were stymied by the courts.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court has upheld the decisions of two lower courts
\nthat Soeharto was unfit to stand trial in the US$ 570 million
\ngraft case involving his foundations due to his poor state of
\nhealth.<\/p>\n
It also ordered the Attorney General's Office to pay
\nSoeharto's medical expenses.<\/p>\n
Barring a sudden recovery in Soeharto's health, a civil action
\nlooks to be the most viable option available to Lopa at this
\njuncture.<\/p>\n
Lopa on Tuesday defended his planned move saying that \"such a
\nlegal process will be mostly for Soeharto's own benefit.\"<\/p>\n
Earlier on Monday during a hearing with the House of
\nRepresentatives' Commission II for legal affairs, Lopa boasted of
\nan impending breakthrough in the Soeharto case.<\/p>\n
\"We can file a lawsuit on that basis because Soeharto, as the
\nowner of several foundations, misused funds which actually did
\nnot belong to the foundations,\" he told the legislators late on
\nMonday night.<\/p>\n
Lopa expressed some bewilderment at the Supreme Court's
\ndecision burdening the state with the cost of paying for the
\ndefendant's medical treatment.<\/p>\n
He described the decision as proof of the courts'
\ncapriciousness with regard to prominent people.<\/p>\n
\"Moreover, it's strange that the court could have declared
\nSoeharto to be \"permanently incapacitated.\" There's no such term
\nin the law books as no human being can determine whether an
\nillness is permanent or otherwise. Only God can do that,\" Lopa
\nasserted.<\/p>\n
Lopa, a former chairman of the National Commission on Human
\nRights, also expressed outrage at the prognosis by doctors that
\nit would be difficult for Soeharto to recover sufficiently to
\nstand trial.<\/p>\n
Separately, legal expert Todung Mulya Lubis said that a civil
\nlawsuit was one possible way of recovering state funds without
\nrequiring the appearance of the defendant in the courtroom.<\/p>\n
\"(In the Soeharto case) the trial could proceed with only the
\nlawyers of the foundation or his heirs being present,\" he told
\nThe Jakarta Post by telephone on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Separately, presidential spokesman Yahya Staquf claimed that
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid fully backed Lopa's plan to
\ninvestigate corruption cases, even if the President or his family
\nwere involved.<\/p>\n
According to Yahya, Abdurrahman was ready to face any inquiry,
\nincluding inquiries into two financial scandals that allegedly
\ninvolved the President.<\/p>\n
\"Also, if there are any family members or people close to the
\nPresident who have violated the law, they must be investigated in
\naccordance with the law,\" Yahya said on Wednesday.(bby\/prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lopa-plans-to-file-lawsuit-against-soeharto-1447893297",
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