Lawyers contend Soeharto can't remember his name

Lawyers contend Soeharto can't remember his name

JAKARTA (JP): After maintaining for months that their client
was unfit to face questioning, lawyers for Soeharto now claim
that the 79-year-old former president is finding it difficult to
even remember his own name.

Juan Felix Tampubolon claimed on Thursday that Soeharto found
it difficult to comprehend even simple questions and thus it was
not suitable for him to undergo a trying legal process.

"Pak Harto cannot comprehend the details of the charges
against him... He cannot defend himself before a trial because
of the malady. So he cannot fulfill the minimum criteria required
to bring someone to court," Tampubolon told The Jakarta Post.

Soeharto underwent another round of questioning on Thursday at
his residence on Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta, the seventh time
since April.

Soeharto was named a suspect for allegedly abusing his power
to amass billions of dollars in funds for his charitable
foundations by issuing presidential decrees and regulations.

State prosecutors posed five questions on Thursday in a less
than 20-minute session about the reimbursement and use of the
foundations' funds.

Speaking to journalists after the questioning, Tampubolon said
Soeharto could not answer any of the questions since they related
to events which happened 15 years ago.

Tampubolon claimed that his client even found it difficult to
remember his own name.

"Pak Harto appeared confused when asked his name. When he
managed to reply, he said: 'Muhammad', then followed by 'Haj',"
Tampubolon said, referring to the Haj title usually used by a
Muslim who has completed the holy pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi
Arabia.

Muhammad is the name Soeharto adopted after his pilgrimage.

Prosecutors asked for confirmation of Soeharto's name as they
found several versions of it in several documents relating to the
foundations.

Tampubolon also said that an independent medical team from
Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) confirmed on Thursday
that the result of a brain scan corroborated initial examinations
conducted by Soeharto's medical team which state that Soeharto
was suffering a condition equivalent to brain damage.

"By that, the state doctors are confirming that Pak Harto is
suffering brain damage and as a result cannot be responsible for
the things he says," Tampubolon argued.

However, the head of the RSCM team of doctors, Supardi
Sudibyo, said he was not entitled to determine or make
assumptions on Soeharto's ability to face questioning and other
legal processes.

"We are just making an assessment of his health
examination... Furthermore, such assumptions depend on who gets
the medical report," he told the Post at his office.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman has set a deadline of Aug.
10 for his office to complete its investigation into the Soeharto
case.

Sources at the Attorney General's Office claim that the
dossier on Soeharto is 80 percent complete and contains testimony
from more than 100 witnesses.

Separately, Attorney General's Office spokesman Yushar Yahya
announced that 12 witnesses in connection with the Soeharto case
would be sworn in on Friday before giving testimony, thereby
ensuring that whatever they said could later be brought to trial,
whether they attended or not.

The measure was taken due to the age of the witnesses, who are
all in their 70s and are mostly management executives of
Soeharto's foundations. (bby)