Attorney General's Office awaits order to sue Soeharto

Attorney General's Office awaits order to sue Soeharto

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office has declined to take the initiative
to file a civil lawsuit, which was earlier sought by former
Attorney General Baharuddin Lopa and supported by most legal
observers, against former president Soeharto in a graft case.

"We act as attorney for the government. As of today, we have
not received any instructions from the government (to file the
lawsuit)," said Santoso, the director for the protection and
restoration of rights.

Office spokesman Antasari Azhar added that the office could
only act on behalf of "government institutions that experienced
financial losses as a result of the crime."

"It could be (filed by) the president or other ministries,
that suffered financial losses," he told reporters during a press
conference here on Friday.

Antasari claimed that the Attorney General's Office could not
seek the order actively in a bid to retrieve state funds
allegedly misused by several charities during Soeharto's 32-year
presidency.

The late Baharuddin Lopa pursued the idea following
prosecutors' failure to bring Soeharto to justice. Soeharto has
been accused of misappropriating some US$571 million from the
state through a number of charities during his presidency.

Soeharto has succeeded in avoiding trial several times due to
health reasons. He first managed to evade trial at the South
Jakarta District Court in September, 2000.

In the same year, a medical team established by the government
declared him physically and mentally unfit to stand trial.

In 2001, he also underwent a medical examination upon the
instructions of the Attorney General's Office after the Supreme
Court ordered medical treatment for the suspect at the state's
expense so that he could be fit to stand trial.

The South Jakarta District Court turned down a request by
state prosecutors in March last year to resume graft proceedings
against Soeharto, arguing that he was still too weak to stand
trial.

Later in August, a team of doctors announced that Soeharto
suffered from aphasia, the total or partial loss of the ability
to use and understand words, which limited his ability to
communicate with others.

The medical examination was conducted after a newspaper ran a
story about Soeharto, who was seen walking and talking during his
granddaughter's wedding reception in Jakarta.