Jakarta – An organization of scholarship recipients filed Monday a lawsuit intervening in a current civil suit against former president Soeharto over the alleged misappropriation of Supersemar Foundation funds.
"We want to be included as one of the parties in the trial because this trial is closely connected to us as former and current recipients of the scholarship," lawyer for the Association of Students and Alumni of Supersemar Scholarship Receivers, Munir Fuady, told the trial.
The association was established on March 28, 1979, in Malang, East Java, by former recipients of the scholarship, and is believed to have approximately one million members nationwide.
Munir said the association would prove members had received the scholarship and had been using it in compliance with regulations. The association would also try to clarify the use of funds throughout the foundation's three decades of operation by showing the financial reports of scholarship recipients.
Soeharto established the Supersemar Foundation in 1976 through a government regulation. The foundation's aim was to give educational assistance to high-performing students from middle-and low-income families. The foundation gathered its funds by collecting donations from the country's businessmen.
State prosecutor Dachamer Munthe said the lawsuit had hit the wrong target, as prosecutors were not accusing scholarship recipients of any wrongdoing.
"I hope the scholarship recipients are not worried about their status because we are only dealing with the alleged misappropriation of funds by Soeharto and the foundation's board," he said during the trial.
Dachamer said the government had evidence Soeharto misused donations by transferring funds to several companies linked to him.
Funds totaling US$420 million and Rp 185.91 billion ($20.31 million) were transferred to PT Bank Duta, Sempati Air, PT Kiani Lestari, PT Kiani Sakti, PT Kalhold Utama, Essam Timber and PT Tanjung Redep Hutan Tanaman Industri.
Dachamer said prosecutors were demanding Soeharto reimburse the transferred funds to the government and pay another Rp 10 trillion in state immaterial losses.
"The foundation would have been able to use this huge amount of money if it was not being transferred to these companies. Just imagine how many thousands of other needy students could have been sponsored in the country without the transfer of this money," state prosecutor Johanis Tanak said during the trial.
The prosecutors also asked the panel of judges to issue an order to confiscate the foundation's assets, including the Granadi Building in the Kuningan area, South Jakarta, which houses the offices of other Soeharto foundations.