Soeharto threatens to sue `Time'

JAKARTA (JP): Former president Soeharto threatened to sue Time magazine on Wednesday for suggesting he and his family had amassed a $15 billion fortune in the 32 years he was in power.

Topnotch lawyers representing Indonesia's former strongman wrote a "warning letter" to Time's Hong Kong correspondent John Colmey, demanding he provide evidence to support the claims.

The allegations were made in articles which appeared in Time's Asia edition this week.

"We would like to emphasize herewith that your reports regarding his valid accounts abroad are absolutely not true, and that is nothing than a false report, which has defamed and humiliated our client," the letter said, copies of which were distributed to journalists.

"Failing to supply us with your supporting legal evidence by at the latest May 24, 1999, shall cause us to take the requisite legal actions, either civil or criminal."

The letter was signed by eight lawyers -- Juan Felix Tampubolon, O.C. Kaligis, Denny Kailimang, Mohammad Assegaf, Indriyanto Seno Adji, Aibrah Said, Syamsul Hadi and Victor S. Siregar -- after they met with Soeharto earlier in the day.

In an accompanying statement, the lawyers said Soeharto's property should be differentiated from holdings of his children or relatives.

"Soeharto does not own any kind of asset abroad in any form, be they in cash, stocks, real estate and jewelry as alleged by Time.

"Soeharto never transferred $9 billion from a Swiss bank to Austria in May 1998. The Time article did not mention the name of the banks in Switzerland or Austria, or the name of the recipient."

The lawyers said they were considering filing lawsuits against Time magazine for "attacking the integrity and good name of our client, an act that could be qualified as slander and tarnishing a person's reputation".

The magazine, with a cover story titled "Soeharto Inc", reached Indonesian readers on Wednesday, but many people had read the articles since Monday by accessing the Time Internet site.

Colmey told The Jakarta Post by phone from Hong Kong that information in the articles was solid. "We stand by the story."

He refused further comment, saying the matter would be taken up by Time magazine lawyers.

Soeharto was forced to resign by the force of "people's power" a year ago this Friday.

Reports from Austria suggested a massive transfer of funds from Switzerland a few days after Soeharto's resignation, but the ownership of the money was never revealed.

"Time has learned that $9 billion of Soeharto money was transferred from Switzerland to a nominee bank account in Austria. Not bad for a man whose presidential salary was $1,764 a month when he left office," the investigative report said.

It estimated that Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, owned about $700 million, son Sigit Harjoyudanto $800 million, son Bambang Trihatmodjo $3 billion, daughter Siti Hediati Hariyadi $75 million, son Hutomo Mandala Putra $800 million and daughter Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih, $30 million.

All six children were active in business during Soeharto's rein, and many received privileges and special concessions, such as monopoly rights and easy access to state credit.

Separately, Attorney General Lt. Gen. Andi M. Ghalib announced that his office had set up a team to look into the Time allegations.

Ghalib, who was assigned by President B.J. Habibie to investigate allegations of corrupt practices by the former president, said the team would summon the magazine's writers, including its Indonesia-based reporter Jason Tedjasukmana.

He said however that he doubted the accuracy of the report, especially on the alleged $9 billion fund transfer to Austria.

Ghalib, who has been widely criticized for dragging his feet in the investigation, insisted his mandate only covered wealth under Soeharto's name, not his children's gains.

He said the government's own hunt for Soeharto's wealth abroad, through Indonesian embassies, had not found anything.

"There are no (assets) owned by Soeharto, (although) there are assets under his children's names," Ghalib said, quoting a report by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas.

Alatas however corrected Ghalib's statement, saying that Indonesian embassies did not have access to foreign banks because they did not have the legal authority to investigate the case.

"We cannot trace them unless we are able to meet several requirements, for instance, the person (Soeharto) has been tried or named a suspect in an investigation," Alatas said, adding that his ministry found houses owned by the Soehartos in London because they were put up for sale.

Reporters accompanying Soeharto to the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) summit in Vancouver, Canada, in Nov. 1997, recalled a one-hour stopover in Zurich on the flight home. Soeharto stayed on the plane, but Alatas and then Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono left the airport during the stopover. Moerdiono told suspicious journalists that they just went out for a coffee.

Minister of Justice Muladi said the government should thank Time magazine for the articles, if they were accurate.

"If they are not accurate, the magazine must be held accountable," Muladi said. (prb/emb)