Put Soeharto on trial

Put Soeharto on trial

From Rakyat Merdeka

I believe that any sensible Indonesian will agree that it is
Soeharto who must assume the greatest responsibility for all the
recent disasters to have befallen this nation. It is now close to
two years since Soeharto was forced to step down by a people's
movement spearheaded by university students.

Unfortunately, Soeharto has not been brought to trial. More
upsetting still is that the political elite have continued to
shape public opinion as if the sins committed by Soeharto were
limited to corruption, collusion and nepotism. In fact, alleged
corruption, collusion and nepotism are only a fraction of the
crimes committed by the New Order regime. The regime's major
crime lies in political and humanity areas.

If we use the law of cause and effect, we will understand that
this nation has been gripped by a crisis because of the
mismanagement of the New Order.

Soeharto has left many time bombs, one of which is the
potential disintegration increasingly threatening national unity.

Strangely, there is no indication that Soeharto will also be
brought to the court for this kind of crime. And, surprisingly,
when the nation is being torn apart but is also busy trying to
extricate itself from the crisis, the perpetrator of all these
disasters has yet to be touched while the government is signaling
that Soeharto will be pardoned. It is a great offense to the
victims of the New Order regime and hurts the hearts of those
with a sense of justice.

At issue now is the Bank Bali scandal; in fact the damage
caused by the scandal is a mere trifle compared to the
destruction wrought during Soeharto's rule.

It is why one of my friends, who is not from Jakarta, said:
"Look at these Jakarta people. They have the guts only against
the non-Javanese elite, who are alleged to have masterminded the
Bank Bali scandal. Soeharto, who is greedier and a more wicked,
will be let off."

It is why many regions are clamoring for their independence
and voiced their desire to be free from Jakarta. The fact is that
legal discrimination still continues.

The government should be more responsive to the popular demand
that Soeharto should be tried. The government's earnestness in
this respect will heal the emotional wounds of the people because
Soeharto is a symbol of a repressive regime. On the other hand,
if the government keeps postponing Soeharto's trial, the students
will return to the streets. Of course, as professionals, my
colleagues and I will support and join the students' actions like
we did before. It is a matter of conscience and a sense of
justice.

SUGRIWAN SOEDARMO

Jakarta