Lawyers protest over Soeharto's city arrest

Lawyers protest over Soeharto's city arrest

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers representing former president Soeharto,
who is under investigation for alleged corruption during his 32
years of rule, demanded on Monday that the Attorney General's
Office drop their client's city arrest.

One of Soeharto's lawyers, Juan Felix Tampubolon, said the
decision to put Soeharto under city arrest was baseless regarding
the former ruler's ailments.

"It was announced on Thursday that the arrest was aimed at
speeding up the investigation. But in fact, the questioning was
postponed due to Soeharto's ill-health, not because there were
indications that he will sneak away.

"Moreover, all the medical examinations were conducted by the
office's appointed team. The prosecutors had also acknowledged
during their visits that our client was unfit to face
questioning," Juan said.

The objection letter was delivered by Juan, who was
accompanied by his colleague Indriyanto Seno Adji.

The city arrest came just 24 hours after the Attorney
General's Office banned Soeharto from traveling abroad.

Chairul Imam, the director of corruption affairs at the
Attorney General's Office, said Soeharto's city arrest would
remain in effect for the benefit of the investigation.

"If we check on the suspect some time and find that he is fit
enough, we can just immediately resume the questioning. But it
would be difficult to do if he's out of town," Chairul was quoted
as saying by Yushar Yahya, the Attorney General's Office
spokesman.

Chairul also denied rumors that 78-year-old Soeharto had left
Jakarta.

Separately, the chairman of the Indonesia Corruption Watch,
Teten Masduki, suggested that the government grant amnesty to
Soeharto provided that he confesses his guilt and agrees to yield
at least half of the state's assets he had misused.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar in Denpasar, Bali,
Teten said such amnesty was appropriate only for Soeharto, not
his children and cronies, due to the political atmosphere
surrounding his corruption case. (01/zen)