Lopa plans to file lawsuit against Soeharto

Lopa plans to file lawsuit against Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): Seeking a much needed breakthrough in the
stalled prosecution of Soeharto, Attorney General Baharuddin Lopa
reiterated here on Tuesday his plans to seek an alternative legal
route by filing a civil lawsuit against the former president.

Speaking after the launching of the book "Soeharto's Trial",
Lopa said such a move would be beneficial for all concerned as it
would provide "legal certainty" for both Soeharto himself and the
nation.

The question of bringing the former president to book is one
of the biggest tests that Lopa will have to face, after his
predecessor Marzuki Darusman's efforts to have Soeharto tried for
allegedly abusing power by amassing wealth through various
foundations were stymied by the courts.

The Supreme Court has upheld the decisions of two lower courts
that Soeharto was unfit to stand trial in the US$ 570 million
graft case involving his foundations due to his poor state of
health.

It also ordered the Attorney General's Office to pay
Soeharto's medical expenses.

Barring a sudden recovery in Soeharto's health, a civil action
looks to be the most viable option available to Lopa at this
juncture.

Lopa on Tuesday defended his planned move saying that "such a
legal process will be mostly for Soeharto's own benefit."

Earlier on Monday during a hearing with the House of
Representatives' Commission II for legal affairs, Lopa boasted of
an impending breakthrough in the Soeharto case.

"We can file a lawsuit on that basis because Soeharto, as the
owner of several foundations, misused funds which actually did
not belong to the foundations," he told the legislators late on
Monday night.

Lopa expressed some bewilderment at the Supreme Court's
decision burdening the state with the cost of paying for the
defendant's medical treatment.

He described the decision as proof of the courts'
capriciousness with regard to prominent people.

"Moreover, it's strange that the court could have declared
Soeharto to be "permanently incapacitated." There's no such term
in the law books as no human being can determine whether an
illness is permanent or otherwise. Only God can do that," Lopa
asserted.

Lopa, a former chairman of the National Commission on Human
Rights, also expressed outrage at the prognosis by doctors that
it would be difficult for Soeharto to recover sufficiently to
stand trial.

Separately, legal expert Todung Mulya Lubis said that a civil
lawsuit was one possible way of recovering state funds without
requiring the appearance of the defendant in the courtroom.

"(In the Soeharto case) the trial could proceed with only the
lawyers of the foundation or his heirs being present," he told
The Jakarta Post by telephone on Tuesday afternoon.

Separately, presidential spokesman Yahya Staquf claimed that
President Abdurrahman Wahid fully backed Lopa's plan to
investigate corruption cases, even if the President or his family
were involved.

According to Yahya, Abdurrahman was ready to face any inquiry,
including inquiries into two financial scandals that allegedly
involved the President.

"Also, if there are any family members or people close to the
President who have violated the law, they must be investigated in
accordance with the law," Yahya said on Wednesday.(bby/prb)