Judiciary must decide on Soeharto: ICW

Judiciary must decide on Soeharto: ICW

JAKARTA (JP): A prominent corruption watchdog questioned
President B.J. Habibie's plan to declare the legal status of
former president Soeharto, under investigation for alleged
corruption, saying the authority belongs to the judiciary rather
than to the head of administration.

The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) conceded Habibie was
currently the holder of a mandate of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) to, among other things, investigate Soeharto and
his cronies.

However, ICW lawyer Iskandar Sonhadji said that "under the
law, a person can be given certain legal status if there's
already a court decision".

"Therefore, the plan of Habibie as the head of administration
to decide Soeharto's legal status is overstepping into the
judiciary's authority," he said as quoted by Antara.

Sonhadji and fellow ICW lawyers Apong Herlina, Ida L. Warouw
and Marsaulina Manurung met on Wednesday with Deputy Attorney
General for Special Crimes Ramelan. During the meeting, the
lawyers criticized the Attorney General's Office for limiting its
investigations to a number of foundations that Soeharto chaired
and the national car project.

Because the investigations have not been thorough, the ICW
lawyers said, Habibie did not have adequate grounds to rule on
Soeharto's legal status.

They said that if Habibie wanted to proceed regardless, he
could bring corruption charges against Soeharto over the former
president's decrees on clove trade which granted a monopoly to
his youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra. The ICW lawyers suspected
the trade had between 1992-1996 enriched Hutomo, or Tommy as he
is widely known, by Rp 2 trillion (about US$270).

Separately, another ICW lawyer, Bambang Widjojanto, blasted
Habibie's government for its inconsistent stance on Soeharto's
case.

Speaking in the South Sulawesi capital of Ujungpandang,
Bambang said Habibie had confused political interests with legal
matters when dealing with Soeharto.

"Soeharto's alleged corruption is strictly a legal matter and
not politics," Bambang said. "President Habibie and Minister of
Justice Muladi should clarify their stance, whether they wish to
solve the matter in a political manner or through legal
procedures."

Commenting on Habibie's wish to announce on Thursday his final
decision regarding the sluggish investigation into the Soeharto
case, Bambang said that if Habibie chose to take a political
approach, "it would only prove that Habibie's government is
discriminative and inconsistent".

Such inconsistency would set a bad precedent in law
enforcement against corruption in the country, said Bambang, who
is also chairman of the Ethics Board of the Indonesian Corruption
Watch.

The government has been under mounting pressure to speed up
the probe by naming Soeharto a suspect for corruption charges
during his 32 years of iron-fisted rule. Observers, however, have
speculated that Habibie, who is Soeharto's former protege, would
be reluctant to take a firm stance against the ailing former
ruler.

On Aug. 18, Muladi hinted that the investigation into Soeharto
may be dropped due to a lack of evidence. The remarks came
several days after Soeharto was rushed to Pertamina Hospital with
intestinal bleeding, less than a month after hospitalization for
a mild stroke. (27/edt/har/swe)