Court refuses to reopen Soeharto graft trial

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The South Jakarta District Court turned down on Thursday an application by state prosecutors to resume graft proceedings against former president Soeharto, arguing that he was still too ill to stand trial.

In a letter to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, a copy of which was made available to reporters, the court's president Lalu Mariyun cited the latest medical report, saying there was no hope that Soeharto would recover.

"The court will only resume the trial if prosecutors can produce the defendant for the hearing in good health," Lalu Mariyun said in the letter, dated March 8.

In a surprise move, the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office last week wrote to the court requesting that the trial be reopened.

The trial on charges relating to US$571 million allegedly corruptly amassed by Soeharto was recessed in September 2000, after the court heard arguments from a medical team that the former president was mentally and physically unfit to stand trial.

Then in February 2001, the Supreme Court ordered state prosecutors to seek medical treatment for Soeharto, and then after he recovered, the prosecutors should bring him to trial.

However, the state appointed team of doctors concluded that the defendant's old age, worsening memory problems, and incurable heart problem held out no hope of recovery based on the kind of medical treatment that was currently available.

The Supreme Court decided in December 2001 that state prosecutors had the right to request the resumption of Soeharto's graft trial.

Lalu Mariyun said in his letter that even if the district court rejected the reopening of Soeharto's trial, prosecutors could later request the court to reopen it as long as they could bring the defendant before the judges in good health.

"The court is open to receiving the case on Soeharto from the prosecutors in the future, if the defendant has recovered," Lalu said.

In line with the decision, the court also returned Soeharto's case file to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office.

Attorney General's Office spokesman Barman Zahir said that the court's decision had been made in a "rush" and that prosecutors had expected that the court would reopen the trial, even if only to hear the latest report on Soeharto's state of health.

"The court should hold another hearing to listen to the medical report. Based on this the judges can declare that there is no hope of Soeharto's recovery and then make a final decision as to whether the trial should be halted altogether," he told reporters.