Bambang Dwi, Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors on Monday filed a civil suit against former dictator Suharto, seeking more than 1.5 billion dollars in damages over funds he allegedly stole during his three decades in power.
The suit indicates revived efforts by Indonesia to retrieve some of the billions of dollars thought to have been pilfered by Suharto, now aged 86, during his iron-fisted 32-year rule that ended almost a decade ago.
A criminal case against the ex-strongman was finally abandoned in May last year on health grounds, triggering widespread criticism of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was elected on an anti-corruption platform.
As the case filed Monday is civil, Suharto himself will not be required to appear in court, and will instead be represented by his lawyers.
State prosecutors filed the suit in the South Jakarta District Court, asking for the return of 440 million dollars allegedly misappropriated, plus 10 trillion rupiah (1.10 billion dollars) in further damages.
The lawsuit alleges that Suharto funnelled the money – much of it from the state – through the Supersemar Foundation, which he chaired, to companies linked to his family members. The foundation is named as a co-defendant in the case.
"The suit was filed because evidence has been found that the funds gathered by Suharto and the foundation he chaired were not only used for scholarships... but in reality the funds were also used for other purposes," prosecutor Dachmer Munthe said.
Prosecutors also demanded the seizure of the building that houses the foundation's headquarters.
Supersemar was founded in 1974 to collect donations from Indonesia's private and public sectors to provide scholarships for students. It has thus far awarded almost 800,000 scholarships. But due to its status as a private foundation, its fund management records have never been made public.
Soebari Ahmad, a court clerk who registered the suit, said it would be directly submitted to the head of the court, who would study the complaint and then form a panel of judges to hear the case. "Hopefully, in not too long a time, this suit can be tried," Ahmad said.
The director of civil suits at the Attorney-General's Office, Agung Yoseph Suardi, told the Koran Tempo's Sunday edition that money from the Supersemar foundation was used to bankroll several companies owned by the Suharto clan.
Among them were Sempati Air, a now-defunct airline run by Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, and his national car-maker, PT Timor Putra Nasional, also defunct. Money also allegedly went to the family's pulp and paper company, PT Kiani Kertas, and PT Goro Batara Sakti, a retail company which has closed.
Suharto stepped down amid mounting unrest in 1998 and since then has lived at his upscale family residence in the leafy Jakarta suburb of Menteng. He has been in and out of hospital due to various health problems in recent years.
A successful case against him would be seen as a symbolic step towards improving Indonesia's dismal corruption record. Indonesia is consistently rated as one of the most graft-prone nations in the world, a situation largely seen as a result of Suharto's rule.
Danang Widoyoko, a coordinator of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said that winning a civil suit against Suharto would be tougher than a criminal case. He said a civil suit was the last option open to the Indonesian justice system to get the former dictator to return funds he is believed to have embezzled.
"But no matter what, this is a move that we should all support as it would be a way to return state wealth that had been siphoned" off by Suharto, he told AFP.