'Time' report a slap on govt face
JAKARTA (JP): Observers said on Monday that Time magazine's report on the Soeharto family's wealth was a "slap on the government's face" and urged Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib to immediately take follow-up action.
"The disclosure is quite a bombshell and what the government should do is invite the magazine to enlighten the government on its findings," leading human rights campaigner Marzuki Darusman told The Jakarta Post.
"Although the figure (given by the magazine) may be astronomical and almost unbelievable, I think what needs to be done is not to argue whether this is valid or not, but to get in touch with the magazine immediately," Marzuki, who is also deputy chairman of the ruling Golkar party, added.
The weekly discloses in its latest issue that former president Soeharto and his children amassed a US$15 billion fortune during his 32-year rule.
It says the Soehartos' fortune includes $9 billion in cash that was transferred from a bank in Switzerland to another bank in Austria shortly after the former ruler was forced from office in May last year.
The magazine reported the Soeharto family's $15 billion wealth comprised cash, shares, corporate assets, real estate, jewelry and fine arts -- including works by masters Affandi and Basoeki Abdullah in the collection of Prabowo Subianto's wife Siti Hediati Hariyadi, the middle daughter known as "Titiek".
"This requires the government to take action as soon as possible," Marzuki said, adding that failure to do so would undermine the government's credibility.
Inaction would also make it very difficult for the government "to convince the public that this is a government that should be continuing the job in the future".
The controversial probe into Soeharto's wealth has dragged on since June last year. Legal experts and pro-reformists have accused Habibie and Ghalib of deliberate foot-dragging.
Time said some of Ghalib's staff members are not convinced the investigation is serious. It quoted an official at the Attorney General's Office as saying that "Ghalib is on a mission to protect Soeharto".
Soeharto asserted in a private television interview last year that he did not have a single cent in foreign banks and he challenged the government and the general public to trace whatever wealth he possessed overseas.
In February Ghalib said the initial findings of an investigation by the Attorney General's Office and the foreign affairs ministry had failed to find any wealth or assets belonging to Soeharto abroad.
"(The disclosure) again amplified the limitation of the Attorney General's Office and therefore it is high time that the government establish a separate commission to look into the matter," Marzuki said.
Faisal Tadjuddin, the secretary-general of an anti-corruption campaign called the Movement of Concerned Citizens over State Assets, said the magazine's findings was akin to "a slap on Ghalib's face", given that he had said Soeharto did not have any foreign assets.
Perception
Teten Masduki of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said the latest revelation had strengthened public perception that the Attorney General's Office had not been serious and was incapable of doing its job.
"Ghalib should not be trusted anymore, and it is impossible for the Attorney General's Office to only rely on the foreign ministry to search for Soeharto's foreign assets which might have already been laundered," Teten told the Post.
Teten, who advocates political solutions rather than legal processes to end the controversial probe into Soeharto's alleged corruption, said the government should start thinking of soliciting foreign assistance in the matter.
In March, Marzuki suggested the present government should not force itself to continue the probe, saying the complicated matter was far beyond its capacity.
Juan Felix Tampubolon, one of Soeharto's lawyers, maintained that Soeharto had no assets abroad. He also spoke of the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the magazine.
"The report is baseless, and if it is not proven we might file a lawsuit against Time," Juan told the Post.
Opposition presidential candidate Amien Rais urged Soeharto's lawyers to go ahead with the suit.
He expressed belief Time would then provide data "and then it would be even easier later to secure the return of most of the money for the people of Indonesia".
Time's cover story titled "Soeharto Inc." capped what the magazine claims to be the most comprehensive, four-month investigation of the Soeharto family wealth, involving hundreds of interviews by its correspondents in 11 countries.
"We still can not make any comment, because we have not received a copy of the magazine yet, and we need to study the validity of the report first before making any decision," spokesman for the Attorney General's Office Soehandoyo said on Monday. (byg)