Soedjono denies claim on foreign lawyer

Soedjono denies claim on foreign lawyer

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Soedjono C. Atmonegoro claimed
yesterday that a relatively unknown local by the name of Yohanes
Yacob had been hired as former president Soeharto's lawyer and
that he had not appointed any foreign attorneys.

However serious questions remain about Yohanes' legal
credentials after a background check revealed that his name was
almost unknown in legal circles.

Soedjono made his statement in an apparent attempt to correct
some media reports that he had met foreign lawyers hired by
Soeharto.

The spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, Barman Zahir,
told The Jakarta Post that he was summoned by Soedjono yesterday
morning and revealed Yohanes' name to prove his argument.

"Please notify the media to correct their reports saying that
Soeharto has hired a foreign lawyer. He is not a foreigner, he is
Indonesian," Soedjono was quoted by Barman as saying.

According to Barman, Soedjono did not give any details about
Yohanes.

Soedjono himself was not available for comment.

The revelation came as a surprise to many as Yohanes' name is
unheard of among prominent legal practitioners.

Attempts to track Yohanes down also proved almost fruitless as
few people had heard of him. Many even raised serious doubts as
to his true identity.

The chairmen of all three lawyer's organizations, Haryono
Tjitrosoebono of the Indonesian Bar Association (IKADIN), Yan
Apul from the Indonesian Advocates Association (AAI) and Yan
Juanda Saputra from the Association of Indonesian Lawyers (IPHI)
all told the Post that they had not heard of Yohanes.

"I can assure you that his name is not on IKADIN's list,"
Haryono said.

Juanda Saputra however said that friends in the Attorney
General's Office had told him that Yohanes is the chairman of a
little known legal aid office in Tebet, South Jakarta.

Soedjono admitted Thursday that he had met lawyers
representing Soeharto. At the time he rushed off and refused to
give further details.

Demonstrators and opposition leaders have been demanding that
an investigation be conducted into whether Soeharto and his
family accumulated wealth illegally while he was in power.

Separately yesterday, Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. A.
Wahab Mokodongan said he was not adverse to an investigation by
the Attorney General's office into corruption under Soeharto.

"ABRI is part of the government. And the authority to conduct
the investigation is the Attorney General's office," he told
reporters. (byg/imn)