Supreme Court rules in favor of Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court has lifted ex-president Soeharto's city arrest status and ordered state prosecutors to provide medical treatment until the now ailing former despot is declared fit enough to stand trial on corruption charges.

Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who presided over the three-member panel of justices, told a press briefing on Monday that the Attorney General's Office has been ordered to take care of Soeharto's medical treatment at the state's expense.

"It's now up to the state prosecutors to decide where or how to execute the verdict, while they are also empowered to decide on Soeharto's arrest status while he is receiving treatment," he said.

Syafiuddin, also a Supreme Court deputy chief justice for general cases, affirmed that the trial could only begin if the doctors appointed by the state prosecutors announced that Soeharto had recovered and was well enough to stand trial.

Soeharto, who will turn 80 in June of this year, is accused of stealing US$571 million from the state by funneling money from seven charitable foundations that he chaired into businesses belonging to his family and cohorts.

The South Jakarta District Court on Sept. 28 last year decided to drop the case on the grounds that the defendant was physically and mentally unfit to stand trial.

The prosecutors appealed for a review to the High Court, arguing that the trial should be resumed regardless of whether Soeharto was present or absent.

In November, the Jakarta High Court put Soeharto under city arrest and ordered the reopening of the case while ruling that Soeharto's presence during the trial was not mandatory.

Soeharto's defense lawyers then brought the case to the Supreme Court insisting that their client was suffering from "serious brain damage".

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal in its ruling issued on Friday.

Even though it has lifted Soeharto's city arrest status, the travel ban still remains in effect.

The panel of justices, which also included Artidjo Alkostar and R. Sunuwahadi, set no time limit for the reopening of the Soeharto case.

Responding to the verdict, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said that his office had yet to decide how the prosecutors would execute the Supreme Court's verdict, but that his office would likely use the services provided by the state-run Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta.

"We'll announce our next steps in a few days...until then, the South Jakarta Prosecutors' Office, which is the public prosecutor in this case, will monitor the defendant who is still under a travel ban," he told journalists at his office in the afternoon.

He said, however, that he would take legal proceedings against those allegedly involved in the Soeharto case.

Soeharto did not attend any of the three court sessions held by the South Jakarta District Court in the auditorium of the agriculture ministry building in South Jakarta.

The doctors' opinion corroborated the arguments of the former president's defense lawyers at the time who claimed that their client should never have to face court proceedings again due to his permanent incapacitation resulting from the three strokes that he had suffered.

Justice Syafiuddin explained on Monday that the decision's reasoning was based on the failure of the prosecutors to bring the defendant before the court, while the substance of the case had yet to be touched on by the justices as it had not yet been raised in the courtroom.

"The dossier has yet to be read out before the court. This appeal merely concerns whether a sick defendant should face trial," he added.

Commenting on the Supreme Court's verdict, head of the Military and Police Faction in the House, Budi Harsono, said that the decision was "politically right".

"Although Soeharto is no longer under arrest, he cannot go anywhere without supervision since he has reached old age. Furthermore, not all the policies he made while in power were wrong," he told journalists.

"According to this verdict, legal proceedings can still go ahead and this is crucial to restoring the people's trust in the government," he added.

However, the decision has also sparked controversy, especially after President Abdurrahman Wahid stated that he would accelerate reform and the elimination of corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Political observer J. Kristiadi said that the President had to prove his commitment to the resolving of corruption cases that happened in the past, including those concerning Soeharto, in order to regain the public trust which had been eroded by his alleged involvement in the Bulog and Brunei financial scandals. (bby/dja/rms)