Jakarta – A law enacted last year by the Habibie government was designed to ensure that former president Suharto and his cronies would be immune to corruption charges, says a senior lawyer.

Indonesian Advocates Association chairman Mr Sudjono said the law, enacted on August 16, was designed to keep Mr Suharto out of court because it nullified a previous corruption law of 1971 under which the former ruler should have been charged.

"I feel the law was designed to protect Pak Harto and his cronies," Mr Sudjono told reporters after addressing a discussion at the launch of the Indonesian Court Monitoring (ICM) group in Yogyakarta on Sunday.

The new law was not applicable to any corruption crimes or misdemeanours that were committed before August 16 last year, so Mr Suharto could escape corruption charges on a technicality, he said, according to the Indonesian Observer.

Mr Sudjono said he was deeply concerned that legislators had passed the August law. "We all know that the legislators during that period were smart. This situation might have been planned to achieve certain goals," he said.

The lawyer said he had raised the issue with Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman and explained the weaknesses of the corruption law. However, the Attorney-General had not said what he thought about the matter. "To me, his attitude could mean either approval or ignorance," he said.

Mr Sudjono said legislators must soon revise the 1999 law by inserting an "escape clause" that would allow the 1971 law to be applied to the wrongdoings of Mr Suharto and his friends. If there was no revision of the law, he said, the legal process against the former autocrat would continue to pan out like a long television serial drama.