Court begins pretrial suit filed by Soeharto

Court begins pretrial suit filed by Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court began on
Wednesday the hearing of a pretrial lawsuit filed by former
president Soeharto against Attorney General Marzuki Darusman over
the Attorney General Office's decision to revoke an Oct. 11, 1999
decree.

In the hearing, lawyers of the country's former strongman
demanded that the court declare the decree, which put an end to
the investigation into Soeharto's alleged practices of
corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), as lawful.

"There is no article in the decree stipulating that the office
will revoke it if it finds new evidence.

"The decree guarantees a legal certainty. Therefore, it can't
be revoked," said Juan Felix Tampubolon, one of Soeharto's
lawyers, while reading the lawsuit in the hearing presided over
by judge Rusmandani Ahmad.

The lawsuit challenged Marzuki's decision on Dec. 6, 1999 to
reopen the investigation into the former president's alleged KKN
practices during his 32-year reign. The decision came only two
weeks after he was appointed attorney general, replacing then
acting attorney general Ismudjoko on Nov. 26, 1999.

The lawsuit accused the Attorney General's Office of having
made fatal administrative mistakes before beginning the
reinvestigation of the former president.

"After revoking the decree, the office did not send a copy of
the Dec. 6, 1999 decree to the plaintiff, as requested by Article
75 of the Criminal Code Procedures," it said.

The lawsuit also called as unlawful the Attorney General's
Office's April 13, 2000 decree, which put Soeharto under city
arrest, the May 29 decree, which converted the city arrest status
into a house arrest status and the decree to prolong his arrest
period.

"Those decrees were issued as the office feared the plaintiff
would flee the country. They were pointless as the plaintiff was
ill," the lawsuit said, referring to medical reports issued by
the Pertamina Hospital and the Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital.

"The plaintiff wouldn't run away. He has been cooperative when
the office's investigation team questioned him at his house."

Scores of visitors, including print and television
journalists, attended Wednesday's hearing, which started from
9:30 a.m. Soeharto's other lawyers, Indriyanto Seno Adji,
Mohammad Assegaf and Denny Kailimang, were also present at the
hearing.

Meanwhile, Marzuki was represented by lawyers Antasari Azhar,
Barman Zahir and Y.W. Mere.

In response to the former president's lawsuit, Marzuki's
lawyers said the Oct. 11, 1999 decree was not a final ruling.

"The decree was different from a court verdict, which has
legal certainty," said Y.W. Mere, while reading Marzuki's
lawyers' defense statement.

The lawyers' defense statement said it was not necessary to
send a copy of the Dec. 6, 1999 decree to the plaintiff.

"We have sent a letter to the former president, dated Dec. 6,
1999, telling him that the Attorney General's Office reopened the
investigation into his alleged KKN practices in the past.

"Without sending a copy of the Dec. 6 decree to him, the
former president must be automatically aware that the
investigation has been reopened," it said.

Soeharto's lawyers insisted that the office did not have the
authority to set Soeharto's arrest status.

"The office is only an investigating institution, not a
prosecuting institution," said the response statement of the
lawyers during the third session of Wednesday's hearing.

In response to Soeharto's lawyers statement that the plaintiff
would not flee the country, Marzuki's lawyers said there was no
guarantee that the plaintiff would not do such a thing.

"Although the doctors stated he was ill, the former president
went to Surakarta and attended his granddaughter's wedding at
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah earlier this year," said Marzuki's
lawyers in their statement.

Judge Rusmandani adjourned the hearing until Thursday to hear
a response statement from Marzuki's lawyers. (asa)