AG vows to hunt state assets stashed abroad
AG vows to hunt state assets stashed abroad
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Andi Muhammad Ghalib pledged on
Friday to hunt state assets which were allegedly stashed overseas
during the 32-year rule of former president Soeharto.
"We will consult with the foreign ministry to rescue the state
assets stashed overseas," Ghalib told reporters after meeting
Swiss Ambassador to Indonesia Grard Fonjallaz at his office in
South Jakarta.
Fonjallaz said that the purpose of his visit was to explain
that Switzerland's banking secrecy was "not absolute" as long as
there was a formal demand from a particular country to launch
investigations into a suspected bank account.
"We would not take the initiative (to launch the
investigation), it has to come from the country of origin of the
person (suspected of having illegally gained deposits).
"We have done that in the Marcos, Duvalier and Mobutu cases,"
Fonjallaz said referring to the ousted dictators of the
Philippines, Haiti and Zaire respectively.
Fonjallaz however denied that the investigation into
Soeharto's wealth was on the agenda during his meeting with the
Attorney General.
"We will make the best of this offer... the minister of
foreign affairs (Ali Alatas) has also offered to cooperate,"
Ghalib said.
Alatas said earlier this week that his ministry was ready to
assist the Attorney General's Office in rescuing state assets
possibly stashed abroad during the Soeharto era.
Ghalib came under fire after he said on Monday that he
believed Soeharto's public denial to charges that he had
accumulated a fortune worth trillions of rupiah during his rule.
"He is a former president, how come you would not believe a
statement from Soeharto?" Ghalib said, responding to questions on
Soeharto's address broadcast by the private TPI television
station on Sunday.
Soeharto, in a speech on the channel controlled by his eldest
daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, said: "The fact is, I don't
have even one cent of savings abroad, don't have accounts at
foreign banks... let alone hundreds of billion of dollars."
Soeharto, referring to a growing clamor that he answer
allegations of amassing a fortune and stand trial if necessary,
also challenged anyone who claimed he was rich to present their
evidence.
American magazine Forbes estimated in July that Soeharto, 77,
who stepped down amid mounting public pressure on May 21, had a
fortune worth US$4 billion.
A lawyer representing Soeharto called on the government and
the National Commission on Human Rights on Wednesday to provide
protection for the veteran ruler against slanderous and
humiliating remarks. But Minister of Justice Muladi said only
legal proceedings against the allegations could stop the public's
comments. (byg)