Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Indonesian Corruption Watch has urged the government to respond positively to the UN's Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative in an attempt to recover looted state assets.
"The government must respond to this scheme by examining the accuracy of the data," Emerson Yuntho from the ICW told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The UN initiative is intended to help developing nations recover assets stolen by former leaders. The scheme was launched Monday in cooperation with the World Bank and Transparency International.
The World Bank has listed Indonesian former president Soeharto as the worst alleged swindler of state assets, along with Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Alberto Fujimori of Peru. It estimated Soeharto's wealth at between US$15 billion and $35 billion.
Emerson said he had the impression the government was intentionally ignoring every case related to former president Soeharto.
"This can be seen in the closing of the criminal charges against Soeharto (in 2000)," he said. "I should say the finalization of Soeharto's cases depends on the President's will, since there have been many countries offering their help to recover Indonesia's stolen assets."
Emerson said this could also show that Soeharto continued to wield significant influence nine years after he was forced to step down.
The head of a government team set up to hunt down corruptors, Muchtar Arifin, said he welcomed all offers of help to recover stolen state assets.
"We really appreciate any assistance, especially from a world organization like the United Nations," Muchtar, who is also deputy attorney general, said Friday. "We are happy to receive such UN's strong commitment to help recover the assets of corruptors worldwide," he said.
Unfortunately, he said, the information he had received on Soeharto's alleged involvement in corruption was still vague. "We don't know what kind of assets he (Soeharto) has and where he has put them," he said.
Muchtar said he would examine the data from the UN to determine whether it could be used as preliminary information for an investigation. "I cannot give you any further comments on this, because I have yet to see the (UN) data myself," he said.
He said he had received much information about alleged Soeharto assets being kept abroad, but had trouble verifying any of this information. He expressed hope the data from the UN could help uncover the truth about Soeharto's alleged wealth.