Soeharto's children to be questioned

Soeharto's children to be questioned

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office has issued
summonses to two of former president Soeharto's children for
questioning in a bid to speed up investigation of his alleged
corruption during 32 years of rule.

The lawyer representing Soeharto's family, Juan Felix
Tampubolon, told The Jakarta Post on Friday he received the
summonses for Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana
and second son Bambang Trihatmodjo earlier in the evening.

"Both are summoned to appear on Tuesday as witnesses in a case
related to Soeharto's charity foundations," Juan said.

When announcing the reopening of Soeharto's corruption case
last December, the Attorney General's Office cited new evidence,
pointing to "a misuse of power and authority" in issuing
government regulations and presidential decrees in order to amass
funds for foundations linked to him, his family and his
associates.

Investigation into Soeharto has been hampered by his ailing
health. The initial questioning of the 78-year-old ex-president
earlier this month was stopped by doctors, who also prevented the
resumption of the questioning a week after.

Director of Corruption Affairs at the Attorney General's
Office Chairul Imam said that along with the two siblings,
executives of the foundations would also be ordered to appear for
questioning.

He said the questioning of key witnesses would be conducted
while arranging a new schedule for Soeharto's questioning.

Juan said he would ask the Attorney General's Office to delay
the questioning of Hardijanti, better known as Tutut, and Bambang
until Wednesday because Tuesday has been set aside for a session
at the Central Jakarta District Court for a libel filed by
Soeharto against Time magazine. The court will hear testimony of
senior journalist Goenawan Mohammad.

The U.S. weekly is accused of libel in an article which stated
that Soeharto had enriched himself and relatives during his three
decades of rule.

Soeharto has been put under city arrest since Wednesday, but
Chairul said the former president would be granted a permit to
leave Jakarta for special reasons, such as family matters or
medical treatment, as long as there was prior notice and as long
as he applied to the Attorney General's Office.

Newly inaugurated spokesman Yushar Yahya said that under the
city arrest Soeharto does not require any permit from the
Attorney General's Office to receive guests or to pay visits as
long as he is still inside Jakarta.

Juan said that Soeharto as of Friday night has not been told
about his arrest, as his medical team advised.

Chairul said that, judging from the latest medical assessment
of the independent medical team at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital
(RSCM), Soeharto will not be able to regularly report by himself.

"It's impossible for him to come, so it's more likely we will
take the initiative to see how he is," he said.

Separately, Antonius Sujata, former state prosecutor to
Soeharto's corruption cases, said that the initial investigation
had found that Soeharto abused his power by providing funds to
his various foundations.

"Too bad the then president B.J. Habibie stopped the
investigation, otherwise Soeharto would have certainly stood
trial," Anton was quoted by Antara as saying.

Outside the Attorney's General Office, dozens of members of
the Indonesian Muslim Students (HMI) rallied to protest the slow-
paced investigation into the former president.

The students demanded that Marzuki immediately put Soeharto on
trial. They pledged to camp out at the Attorney General's Office
compound until their demands were met. (01)