Soeharto probe not an investigation

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Lt. Gen. Muhammad Ghalib insisted yesterday that his office was not conducting an "investigation" into the wealth of former president Soeharto, but was merely "examining" it.

"We are still in a preliminary examination stage and we have not instigated any investigation," Ghalib asserted, adding that the examination was only focusing on the foundations chaired by Soeharto.

Ghalib just smiled when journalists pressed him to answer why the examination had not been expanded, then said that his office needed no external assistance to undertake the task.

"The Attorney General's office is perfectly capable," he remarked.

In its July 6 issue, Forbes magazine lists Soeharto's family as one of the richest in the world, and reveals that during his 32 years in power the former president amassed stakes in about 3,200 Indonesian companies and a family fortune worth something in the region of US$4 billion.

However, a lawyer appointed by Soeharto has said on television that the former president does not have a vast fortune and has no bank accounts outside the country.

When Ghalib was asked by journalists whether it was possible for someone like Soeharto not to have any offshore accounts, the three-star general replied: "You must ask him, not me".

Ghalib maintained that it was not fair for people to denounce Soeharto for his wealth while there was no concrete evidence of impropriety on the part of the aging former president.

"Justice must be upheld. Pak Harto has never been declared guilty (by court). You cannot continue accusing him. It is not fair to accuse someone without proof," Ghalib replied when journalists asked him how his office's examination of Soeharto's wealth was progressing.

Ghalib only recently took over as Attorney General. He was appointed by President B.J. Habibie in a shock move last month. He replaced Soejono C. Atmonegoro as the country's senior legal figure. (prb)