Prosecutor's appeal is baseless, says Soeharto's lawyer

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers defending former president Soeharto submitted a counterstatement to the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday in response to the appeal brought by the state against the court's ruling on their client.

Juan Felix Tampubolon, the leader of Soeharto's defense team, said that the counterstatement contended that the prosecutors' appeal to the Jakarta High Court was improper and lacked a legal basis.

He said the court had clearly declared that Soeharto was permanently unfit to stand trial based on medical examinations conducted by a total of 60 doctors from three different teams, with the last two teams being set up at the request of the prosecutors.

"By challenging the court's ruling, the prosecutors have betrayed their own stance because it was they who insisted on the setting up of an independent team of doctors and they who in the end refused to accept the doctors' opinion," Juan said.

He added that the independent medical team had testified under oath and in accordance with the medical profession's code of ethics.

Juan also said that no one should interfere with the court's ruling since the panel of judges had acted independently.

He suspected that the appeal was filed in a panic because the Attorney General had failed to realize his political objectives.

"There are no reasons or legal grounds for the prosecutors to appeal to the high court as an appeal may only be filed after the indictments in the case have been read to the accused," Juan said.

According to Article 155 (2) of the Criminal Procedures Code, an appeal can only be filed by the accused or his lawyers in respect of indictments which have been read by the prosecutors.

The South Jakarta District Court, presided over by Judge Lalu Mariyun, dropped multimillion dollar graft charges against former president Soeharto on Sept. 28, after listening to the expert medical opinion of an independent team of doctors stating that he was mentally and physically unfit to stand trial.

The court also released the defendant from his city arrest status and ordered the case's registration number to be scratched from the court's criminal list.

Soeharto, 79, who resigned as president in May 1998, failed to attend all three of the scheduled hearings in the district court due to ill health.

Soeharto had been accused of stealing US$571 million from the state by funneling money from seven charity foundations he chaired into businesses belonging to his family and cronies.

Prosecutor Muchtar Arifin submitted his appeal No. B- 1019/P.1.13/Fpk.2/10/2000 to the high court through the South Jakarta District Court on Oct. 5.

Both the appeal and the defense counterstatement are expected to come before the high court by Monday at the latest.

Separately, Chief State Prosecutor Muchtar Arifin said he would continue his attempt to prosecute Soeharto, on the grounds that the judges in the case had failed to take into account the people's sense of justice.

"I hope the high court will see fit to accept the appeal and let the trial be reopened," he told journalists.

In apparent disgust at the trial court's ruling, President Abdurrahman Wahid recommended that the Supreme Court look for judges "who are clean and cannot be bought" to try Soeharto. (01/bby)