Soeharto's children are in Indonesia: Probosutedjo

JAKARTA (JP): All of Soeharto's six children are in Jakarta and intend to continue with their business activities without the special privileges they once enjoyed, a close relative of the former president said yesterday.

Businessman Probosutedjo, Soeharto's half-brother, said in an interview with Antara that the whole family still routinely got together at Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta.

"I saw them dining together in Jl. Cendana the night before Soeharto decided to quit," said the owner of the diversified Mercu Buana business group.

"They were all there. Bambang, Sigit, Tutut, Tommy. Even Tommy's wife, who is expecting, was there," he recalled.

Bambang Trihatmodjo is the owner of the Bimantara Group; Tommy, or Hutomo Mandala Putra, heads the Humpus Group; while Tutut, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana's nickname, owns the diversified Citra Group.

The other three -- Sigit Hardjojudanto, Siti Hediati and Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih -- also have business interests.

Probosutedjo dispelled rumors suggesting that all of them had left Indonesia.

Hardijanti, who was minister of social services in the last cabinet, accompanied the widowed Soeharto to the State Palace when he announced his decision to step down. She was dropped from the new cabinet announced by President B.J. Habibie on Friday.

There had been rumors that Soeharto's children and grandchildren had fled the country in the days leading up to their father's resignation on Thursday.

Probosutedjo said Soeharto had asked his children, who were abroad, to return home and stay in Jakarta.

He said he had talked to family members and they appeared calm and stated an intention to continue with their business activities.

They all realized that they were no longer the children of the president who used to enjoy special privileges. "They will become ordinary entrepreneurs, without privileges. They are aware of this," Probosutedjo said.

He said he himself fell victim to vicious rumors about fleeing the country. "My business partners in Saudi Arabia phoned me up to check on me. Well, here I am giving this interview."

Probosutedjo said he had been in constant contact, right up to the last moment, with Soeharto on the night before he made his decision to step down, keeping him abreast with the rapidly changing condition in the country.

Probosutedjo said he visited Jl. Cendana several times that night. "He made the decision to prevent greater chaos in Indonesia," he said.

"As his brother, I am saddened to see ministers who were his aides turn against him. I guess that's human nature," he said, adding that such behavior had worsened Soeharto's plight.

When asked to comment on the demands to try Soeharto, Probosutedjo said he did not think it would be constitutionally correct given that Soeharto had only served two months of his latest term in office

"He had already given his report of accountability for his previous term in office to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). And this report was accepted by the MPR," he said.

Probosutedjo also denied rumors that the former president had funds stashed in Swiss bank accounts.

He said that based on his observation, Swiss banks were reluctant to accept money from heads of state if the money's origin was not clear. "Swiss banks have had it in dealing with dubious assets from heads of state."

From Zurich, the Swiss Federal Justice and Police Ministry said they had no indication that Soeharto had any money in Swiss bank accounts, Reuters reported Friday.

"The Federal Justice and Police Ministry simply has no concrete information at the moment about any assets held by the Soeharto family in Switzerland," ministry spokesman Viktor Schlumpf told Swiss television DRS.

Switzerland's top bank regulator last week said he doubted Soeharto had significant accounts in the country.

Schlumpf said the Swiss government would need an official request from Indonesia before it could order banks to freeze any Soeharto assets.

He had been asked by a DRS reporter whether Swiss authorities were ready to freeze Soeharto assets, as they did with accounts of Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 after he was ousted in a peaceful revolution.

The Swiss government can only act if a foreign government asks for help in reclaiming money or if such a request is believed to be imminent.

Schlumpf said his ministry thought it was unlikely that the new Indonesian government would move to claim Soeharto assets abroad because it is led by a Soeharto ally, new President Habibie.

"It is less likely for the moment because the same team is in power in Indonesia," Schlumpf said.

Switzerland's top bank regulator last week said he doubted Soeharto had significant accounts in the country because Swiss banks had become cautious about political leaders of developing nations after years of bad publicity over the Marcos fortune.

Legal wrangling over who should get the Marcos Swiss accounts totaling over US$500 million is only now nearing an end after the Swiss supreme court ruled that the money should be returned to the Philippines for courts there to distribute. (emb)