Adianto P. Simamora and Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – In response to the Golkar Party's call to drop legal proceedings against Soeharto, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji has said his office long ago ended criminal charges against the former president but that the civil cases against him would continue.
Speaking after attending a Cabinet meeting Monday, Hendarman said his office dropped the case because of Soeharto's illness and the results of several court decisions.
"So, Soeharto's (criminal) case is over. What's now proceeding is the civil case against seven foundations belonging to Soeharto," Hendarman said. "And the proceedings against the seven foundations are still going on."
The government says that the seven foundations – Dakab, Dharmais, Amal Bakti Muslim Pancasila, Supersemar, Dana Sejahtera Mandiri, Gotong Royong and Trikora – channeled much of the money given to them to companies belonging to Soeharto's cronies.
Hendarman said that pardoning Soeharto would not be possible under Indonesian law.
Currently, Soeharto is at Pertamina General Hospital in South Jakarta, where he was taken after suffering from anemia and a severe edema on Friday.
The Golkar Party surprised legal practitioners on Sunday when it asked the government to reconsider criminal cases against former president Soeharto out of respect for his contributions to the nation.
"The Golkar Party only called on the government to give certainty to the criminal cases of Soeharto, because we are afraid the government will still open the cases," chairman of the Golkar Party faction at the House of Representatives Priyo Budi Santoso told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Priyo said that the party only asked government to clarify its stance on Soeharto's criminal cases and not his civil cases.
"The government should just drop all criminal charges against him. We should remember that Pak Harto is an elder and he is in a critical condition," he said. "Besides we should respect his contributions when he was a country leader."
However, Priyo added that the party had yet to decide its stance regarding his civil lawsuit.
Golkar's concerns emerged after the government joined the World Bank-sponsored Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) initiative. In the StAR report, the 86-year old Soeharto was listed as the world's worst thief of state assets.
Golkar's move immediately drew criticism from various quarters. Hidayat Nurwahid and A.M. Fatwa, the speaker and deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, which issued a decree to try Soeharto, asked the government to take him to court.
Hendardi from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association said the President, Vice President and elements of the New Order regime had over-reacted.
"It is only a repetition of the silly opera that always appears every time Soeharto is hospitalized," he said. He added that no president or attorney general since the fall of the New Order had had "the guts" to take Soeharto to court.
Emerson Yuntho of Indonesian Corruption Watch, however, insisted that the law must be upheld against Soeharto.
"It is the right moment for the government to show it has the political will to bring Soeharto to court," he said. "If Soeharto is then found guilty, it is the President's prerogative whether to grant a pardon or not." (dic)