Sandy Indra Pratama/Wahyu Dhyatmika, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is currently still searching for authentic documents in relation to Suharto's foundations, to be used as evidence in a civil claim against the former president.

"I don't know whether the documents are missing, have been kept or anything else. What is certain is they're being looked for," Salman Maryadi, Head of Legal Information Center at the AGO, told Tempo yesterday (3/6).

The documents were not saved by Jakarta Senior Prosecutors after the Suharto corruption criminal act case could not be tried.

However, when the state prosecutors team led by Dachmer Munthe will use them in the civil claim, only the photocopies will be submitted.

Alex Sato Bya, Deputy Attorney General for Civil and State Administration, acknowledged he did not know exactly the authentic documents' whereabouts. "When I received nine filing cabinets of documents, they contained photocopies," he said.

It is quite difficult to trace because the documents have not been "overseen" for six years. In September, 2000, Lalu Mariyun, the South Jakarta District Court panel of judges' chairman, refused to try the case as Suharto had a permanent illness. In May, 2006, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh halted the prosecution.

Although the authentic documents have not yet been found, the process of civil prosecution against Suharto is ongoing. According to Munthe, the required photocopies will be legalized and confirmed by several related sources.

His team, he said, will ask for confirmation from 43 witnesses who can verify the letters. "In addition, expert witnesses will be asked for statements," he said.

With this legalization and confirmation, the photocopied documents can be as useful as the authentic ones. "Witnesses; legalization and verification make the documents evidence," said Munthe.