Indonesian laws weak

We have of late been "entertained" by various opinions and stories in your paper on former president Soeharto's wealth and the urgency for a quick inquiry. In general I personally agree with an article on this subject written by Michael Richardson and Philip Segal for the International Herald Tribune of September 21, 1998. The following is the essence of that particular article.

"As official Indonesian investigators prepare to question former president Soeharto for the first time about his wealth, experts are cautioning that any criminal wrongdoing will be hard to prove and that the tracing and recovery of money and assets will be equally difficult, especially if they are outside Indonesia."

Weaknesses and loopholes in the country's legal system and the fact that Mr. Soeharto in effect ruled by decree for much of his 32 years in power -- with a compliant legislature to rubberstamp his actions -- mean that all his actions are likely to be technically legal, lawyers and other specialists say.

"Before international accounts and investigators can do their work, they need clear proof that laws were broken," said Jeffrey Winters, a political scientist at Northwestern University in Chicago and a specialist on Indonesia." No wonder Soeharto, his family members, and other cronies have the confidence to declare that they have done nothing wrong as they enriched themselves." Even though they amassed fortunes worth billions of dollars, he said, "The sad truth is that Indonesian laws might be so weak that legally speaking, their claims of innocence could be true."

So, what now My Love? (Maybe we should first take the abuse of power and Human Rights as a clear proof that laws were broken).

DEWI ASIAH R.A.

H.B. Jassin Documentation Center

Jakarta