Fate and fortunes

Besieged in his home city, the sick and frail old man who once ruled Indonesia like a personal fiefdom is experiencing the fate that befalls so many despots once they are overthrown.

It is not certain whether the 79-year-old former president Soeharto can hear the calls of militant students who surround his house and bay for a hanging. But he cannot fail to be aware of the public clamor to bring him to justice for alleged corruption.

Life would be quieter if authorities do decide, as they are considering, to take him into safe custody and conduct questioning in a less-hostile atmosphere. And peace may return to the Jakarta streets once protesters are convinced that although it has acted with exasperating slowness the attorney-general's office is sincere about pursuing the case.

With their father's backing, it was the Soeharto children who creamed off so much of the country's wealth as the nation accumulated heavy foreign debt. Their combined fortune is reputed to be somewhere in the region of U.S.$15 billion. Comparatively little of the proceeds from seven dubious charitable foundations backed by Mr. Soeharto seems to have remained in his hands, but it may be difficult to find where all of it is hidden.

If the family's property and assets had been sequestered immediately after Mr. Soeharto's fall in May 1998 the process would be much simpler. At this stage, tracing the network of oil holdings, bank accounts and property secreted away in various parts of the world promises to be a Herculean task. Already a New Zealand ranch owned by one of his children has been sold for a nominal sum.

Belatedly, the Government seems determined to recover the money and bring Mr. Soeharto to court in August. But it is his children who should answer to their countrymen over their illicit fortunes. If their wealth can be returned to the people, justice will have been seen to be done.

-- The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong