Govt backtracks on Soeharto's custody

JAKARTA (JP): Security reasons, rather than legal arguments, may be the ultimate provocation for moving former president Soeharto to a state-protected location after what seems to be growing apprehension on the part of the government in recent days.

Conflicting statements seem to indicate that the Attorney General's Office may be backtracking on its plan due to intervention or because of issues of legality.

After unrest around Soeharto's residence in recent days, the plan could also be facilitated or bogged down further as Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana is scheduled to meet with President Abdurrahman Wahid in order to plead her father's case.

After boldly declaring on Monday that Soeharto would be moved to a different locale to ensure his safety and expedite investigations of his alleged abuses of power, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman has since softened his stance.

On Thursday night he seemed to backtrack, saying that the decision still "could not be finalized".

"I have discussed the plan with the President (Abdurrahman Wahid) but so far there has not been any decision whether he (Soeharto) is going to be moved or not," Marzuki told The Jakarta Post by phone.

Marzuki's statement came just hours after he met with Abdurrahman Wahid at the state palace earlier in the day.

Palace sources told the Post on Friday that Abdurrahman did not give Marzuki a "go ahead" during the meeting.

On Friday Marzuki even suggested that the decision to move Soeharto was merely a suggestion.

"We have problems with the legal basis for doing such a thing. It is really a suggestion to the (Soeharto) family to consider the former president's safety," he told journalists after a hearing at the House of Representatives.

Marzuki on Friday repeatedly stressed the "security factor" as strong grounds for moving Soeharto.

Marzuki remarked that he would soon meet with National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Roesdihardjo to discuss the matter, implying that if police, after analyzing the situation, feel that they can no longer guarantee security around Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta, then there could be sufficient grounds to move him.

It is unclear whether two consecutive days of violence in Central Jakarta by protesters demanding Soeharto's prosecution had actually helped increase the sense of urgency for Soeharto to be moved from his current residence.

When asked if the unrest was helping expedite things, Marzuki merely replied that "today there should have already been a decision on the matter" referring to his delayed meeting with the National Police chief.

When asked whether President Abdurrahman has given the green light for moving Soeharto, Marzuki said rather vaguely that the President "has the right to give attention to the matter."

There remains scant detail on the likelihood of where Soeharto might be moved.

Officials have only said it would be somewhere in Jakarta, but sources revealed that Soeharto's house in East Jakarta and the Marines Corps Infantry Brigade in Cilandak, South Jakarta, were possible venues.

Marzuki, on Thursday, admitted that the Marine Corps Infantry Brigade would be "one of the alternatives".

"The Brigade, among several other places, is being considered but these are still highly tentative plans and there has not yet been any decision on the matter," Marzuki said.

Soeharto is suspected of abusing his power and authority in issuing decrees and government regulations to amass funds through his seven charitable foundations.

The Attorney General's Office had summoned executives of the foundations, including two of Soeharto's children.

The office also confiscated documents relating to the six foundations as evidence in the case.

Soeharto had been questioned at least four times by the Attorney General's Office, but sometimes the questioning was cut short after doctors insisted that Soeharto was too ill to continue.

His lawyers have repeatedly said that Soeharto is unable to undergo questioning because he cannot communicate clearly as a result of the stroke he suffered last year.

Marzuki said that Soeharto's case could go to court by August or earlier, and added that the security protection for the former president would be reduced to a minimum level if he and his family did not cooperate with the investigation. (01/byg/prb)