Soeharto to be summoned again

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office will next week once again summon former president Soeharto as a suspect over alleged corruption after an independent medical report confirmed that he was fit to undergo questioning.

"We will be issuing a new summons to Mr. Soeharto to appear at the Attorney General's Office," Attorney General Marzuki Darusman told a media briefing, confirm that the Soeharto's medical report did allow for the questioning.

Marzuki said the date for the questioning had yet to be set but added: "We will try to speed up the process and it (the summons) may be some time early next week."

The statement came a day after the Attorney General's Office received a report on Soeharto's health from an independent medical team at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM).

Marzuki said that "based on the report, we will proceed with further investigations."

"The report of the medical team has made it clear to us that further investigations are possible so we will be going with that conclusion," he said.

A team of six doctors from RSCM conducted two physical examinations on Soeharto last week to determine whether he was fit to face questioning for alleged corruption.

The decision to conduct an independent medical examination on Soeharto was taken after the former president's lawyers repeatedly pleaded that their client was medically unfit to undergo questioning.

When asked on Thursday to divulge the details of the medical report, Marzuki refused, saying that "it would be violating the limit of confidence (confidentiality)".

"I am not in a position to do that and I think we are satisfied that we are able to conclude from the report that it is possible to continue with the investigation," Marzuki said.

While Soeharto has been declared medically fit, there continues to be speculation whether it would feasible to question him as it is believed that the former president may have trouble speaking.

"The circumstances of course may not be ideal but within the limit of possibility and at the moment we have decided to continue with the investigation," Marzuki said.

When asked what action the Attorney General's Office would take if Soeharto failed to adhere to the summons, as he did in February, Marzuki said he was "not anticipating any hindrances and I think it is unnecessary to make too many presumptions."

Marzuki added that the Attorney General's Office would be requesting that the RSCM medical team "transcribe the results of the checkup" to Soeharto's family because "they are entitled to know that."

Meanwhile, the Soeharto family lawyer, Juan Felix Tampubolon, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that his client would "honor" the summons.

"We have said from the beginning that we principally are willing to cooperate with the Attorney General's Office and if they do send the summons, it must be honored," Tampubolon said.

Bambang

In a separate development, Soeharto's son, Bambang Trihatmodjo, faced questioning at the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office over the acquisition of textile company Kanindotex's assets.

The case is currently being examined by the South Jakarta District Court.

Robby Tjahyadi, the former president director of the company, filed a civil lawsuit at the district court in December against Bambang's efforts to take over the assets.

The suit surrounds events following Robby's attempts to pay back his loans to Bapindo Bank by selling PT Kanindotex assets. Through business associate Johannes Kotjo, Bambang was then reportedly offered the assets.

The assets were then taken over by Bambang, but Robby claims that he never received compensation from Bambang.

Guarded by three bodyguards and accompanied by lawyer Tampubolon, Bambang underwent questioning for about three hours. He refused to speak to journalists as he left the building.

Tampubolon insisted that Bambang was not being questioned as a suspect in the case.

"This was a preliminary session in which the prosecutors only tried to dig for information about the case. He has yet to be named as a suspect or a witness," he told reporters.

Bambang was summoned by prosecutor Jhonny Ginting, Sianturi and Tonny Sinai.

"The office was proactive in inviting Bambang to gather information about the case," he told the Post.

He confirmed that Bambang had not been declared a suspect.

"It is still a preliminary investigation. He was invited as a source," he added. (asa/byg)