Attorney General insists on summoning Soeharto

Attorney General insists on summoning Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's office is insisting
Soeharto answer a summons for questioning on Monday despite being
informed by lawyers on Friday that the former president is
physically and mentally unfit.

"We have been watching Pak Harto closely and he has so far
been able to travel, so we are of the opinion that he is in
normal condition and therefore able to be questioned," Attorney
General Marzuki Darusman told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.

"Fulfill the summons first and then if there is a problem, it
will be taken care of during the process," he added.

Lawyers representing the 78-year-old former president
officially informed the Attorney General's office Friday morning
that their client was too sick to answer the summons.

"Pak Harto's poor physical condition won't enable him to go
through the questioning process," lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon
told journalists after a one-hour meeting with Chairul Imam,
director of corruption affairs at the Attorney General's office.

"I will be present on Monday on his behalf," Tampubolon said.

But a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, Soehandoyo,
told reporters that the "investigation should not be halted just
because the suspect is sick."

He added that the Attorney General's office would cross-check
and coordinate with Soeharto's medical team to look into his
illness.

"Soeharto's lawyers will submit a bill of health from the
doctors ... and after we have received the letters, alternative
steps will be taken," he said.

The statement came a day after the attorney general's office
announced that Soeharto was summoned as a suspect of alleged
corruption during his 32 years in power.

Officials said that the summons was issued as new evidence had
been discovered to warrant the resumption of the investigation of
the former ruler.

New evidence pointed to "a misuse of power and authority" in
issuing government regulations and presidential decrees to amass
funds for foundations linked to Soeharto, his family and
associates.

Separately, human rights lawyer Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara
said there must be a "second opinion" on Soeharto's health and
called on the Attorney General's office "not to just believe" the
report from the former ruler's medical team.

"He was able to travel to Surakarta, so why all of a sudden
can't he now appear at the Attorney General's office," Abdul
Hakim said referring to Soeharto's visit to the grave of his late
wife Tien in Central Java in November.

A source also told the Post on Thursday that Soeharto even
visited a golf course in West Java.

Tampubolon, when interviewed by the Post by telephone, would
not confirm Thursday's walkabout but admitted that Soeharto
travels regularly to Surakarta and to his ranch in Tapos, West
Java for his own "therapy".

"Doctors recommend Pak Harto to walk a lot and to travel to
places he likes," Tampubolon said.

Soeharto, who has repeatedly denied allegations that he
amassed a fortune during his reign, was twice hospitalized last
year, once for a stroke and once for intestinal bleeding.

In Yogyakarta, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien
Rais said that bringing Soeharto to court would be an important
step toward restoring the people's confidence (in the
government).

"By taking former President Soeharto to court, the people will
see that there is equal treatment before the law; that there are
no exceptions, not even for a former president," he said on
Friday. (01/byg/emf)