Govt 'must show' its intention to fight graft

Govt 'must show' its intention to fight graft

JAKARTA (JP): Former minister of finance Mar'ie Muhammad told
the government on Friday to speedily demonstrate its stated
intention to investigate corruption cases linked to former
president Soeharto. He suggested that probes should start with
major graft cases.

Mar'ie told the government to learn from the experience of the
Philippine government's attempts to find the fortune of its
former president Ferdinand Marcos.

"The investigation into the Marcos case has gone on for more
than 12 years without solution. I think the corruption cases in
Indonesia are worth more than the Marcos ones," Mar'ie told
journalists on the sidelines of the Indonesia Forum business
conference here.

Mar'ie, also chief commissioner of state-owned Bank Mandiri,
suggested that President B.J. Habibie's administration set up an
independent body to investigate corruption cases.

He said the body should comprise highly respected figures and
suggested international investigator Kroll Associates Inc. should
be involved because the corruptors used sophisticated methods to
hide their riches.

"I do not have any intention to promote the agency, but
basically I recommend the government establishes such an agency,"
he said.

The chairman of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP),
Soedarjono, said his office had uncovered graft practices in
projects involving state-owned companies.

These included a case involving state-owned toll road builder
PT Hutama Karya which issued a commercial paper (CP) to finance
the construction of several toll road projects controlled by
Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, Soedarjono
said.

"It looks as if there is a conspiracy. The money that came
from the sales of the CP did not go to Hutama Karya," he said,
adding that the CP was worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.

On the other hand, Soedarjono said, recent corruption charges
leveled against Arifin Panigoro, a noted businessman supportive
of students, were baseless and politically motivated.

"It was just political pressure, it had nothing to do with
Arifin," he said.

A group of students managed to stage a protest at National
Monument (Monas) park on Friday, one of the most strategic areas
in Jakarta as it is adjacent to Merdeka Palace. It was students'
third attempt this week to express their demands to try Soeharto
for human rights abuses in addition to corruption charges.

Pressure

Coordinator Husni said: "We want to press him (Habibie) to
continue the investigation ... He must realize his own promise."

Some 500 members of the Jakarta Association of Muhammadiyah
Students marched from Tugu Tani in Menteng, Central Jakarta at
about 1 p.m. to the palace to press their demand to Habibie.

Security officers said the students intended to intercept
Soeharto who regularly performs his Friday prayers at a mosque
inside the Bimantara building on Jl. Kebon Sirih. The building
houses the headquarters of the Bimantara business group owned up
by his second son, Bambang Trihatmodjo.

A police line was formed to contain demonstrators inside the
Monas park but students ran out onto Jl. Merdeka Barat. Seventeen
additional army trucks full of troops rushed to the scene to
prevent the students from advancing further.

Hundreds of other students grouped in a Joint Forum (Forbes)
held prayers on the Cawang-Grogol toll road near the Jakarta
Police headquarters and caused massive traffic congestion on
Friday afternoon.

Prayers in tribute to those who fell on Black Friday were also
jointly held by the Association of Indonesian Moslem Students
(PMII), Pijar Indonesia, Indonesia Working Group (KKI) and the
Association of Indonesian Catholic Students (PMKRI) at the
headquarters of the Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization on Jl.
Kramat, Central Jakarta. On Thursday the Indonesian Ulemas
Council also called for Moslems to conduct prayers for last
week's victims.

A Soeharto close aide said on Friday that the former president
spent most of this week at his residence.

"He stayed at home and does not have any intention to leave
Jakarta or the country," said the aide.

The aide, requesting anonymity, said Soeharto was "very sad"
about the mounting demonstrations against him.

"You can imagine his feeling as students continue denouncing
an old man like him," said the aide.

In Surabaya, the capital of East Java, thousands of students
convoyed around the city after Friday prayers.

"Reforms must continue and Soeharto must be taken to court,"
they chanted.

From Hong Kong AFP reported activists staged protests outside
the Indonesian consulate on Friday against the bloody military
crackdown of student-led protests in Jakarta last week.

Activists from non-government organizations, labor unions and
student bodies condemned the handling of Black Friday.

They demanded Habibie, Minister of Defense and Security/Armed
Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto and their allies in the bureaucracy
and military be held responsible for the recent fatalities.

"We demand an end to the political role of the Indonesian
Armed Forces," the group said in a statement, adding: "We demand
justice." (das/edt/nur/29/prb)