Attorney General seeks clarification from Ghalib

Attorney General seeks clarification from Ghalib

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman will question
his predecessor Andi Muhammad Ghalib over his statements that two
top officials had prevented the office's efforts in the
prosecution of former president Soeharto, an activist said on
Thursday.

Ghalib will be summoned early next week to clarify his charge
on former president B.J Habibie and former military
chief/minister of defense and security Gen. (ret) Wiranto as
stated in his biography, economist Faisal Basri from the Movement
of Concerned Citizens on State Assets (Gempita) told reporters
after an hour-long meeting with Marzuki at the Attorney General's
Office.

"The attorney general will confirm this matter with Ghalib
later next week to clarify whether his statement embraces the
truth since there has yet to be a denial from both Wiranto and
Habibie.

"If Ghalib fails to give acceptable clarifications, then we
will assume that the book is not credible and only telling lies,"
Faisal said.

Ghalib's biography, Menepis Badai, Menegakkan Supremasi Hukum
(Warding Off the Storm, Upholding the Supreme Law), which was
launched on Jan. 16, cited on page 342 that the prosecutors had
obtained enough evidence to name Soeharto as a suspect for
corruption in several foundations and the national automobile
project.

The retired lieutenant general revealed that he had initially
been supported by Habibie to proceed with the investigation.
However, the book said, Habibie changed his mind after being
advised by Wiranto who argued that it would taint Soeharto's
image.

Habibie then decided to "freeze the case on Soeharto whether
he won the election or not".

Gempita chairman Albert Hasibuan said that this revelation
shows that there was a conspiracy to obstruct justice from the
government and that Habibie and Wiranto should also be questioned
over the matter.

"If the prosecutors then found that Habibie and Wiranto had
violated the public's aspirations as imposed in the decree, they
should be prosecuted and brought to stand trial," he said.

Marzuki reopened Soeharto's case on November 1999 after the
probe was halted by Ghalib, who left the post following a
controversial report that he received bribes from some
businessmen as a large amount of money belonging to a wrestling
association he chaired was found on his personal account.

Albert also urged Marzuki to add charges to Soeharto over
corruptive practices in the national automobile project.

Soeharto is charged with stealing US$571 million from the
state by funneling money from his seven tax-free charitable
foundations into businesses belonging to his children and
cronies. The case is now under review by the Supreme Court. (bby)