http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/one-last-shot/2007/01/15/1168709679824.html#
One more shot at holding Soeharto and son to account Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta January 16, 2007 As fallen strongmen go, Soeharto has had it pretty good. The 85-year-old, former general, who ruled Indonesia with an iron grip for 32 years, apparently spends his days watching National Geographic on cable television and feeding his parrot on the veranda of his Dutch-era house in the Jakarta suburb of Menteng. The High Court in Jakarta last August approved a decision by Indonesia's Attorney-General's Office to drop charges relating to the alleged embezzlement of more than $US500 million ($A649 million) amassed by seven foundations Mr Soeharto controlled during his reign, citing his ill-health. But eight years after he stepped down amid mounting unrest in 1998, the Indonesian Government has announced new moves against both Mr Soeharto and his 44-year-old youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putera, known as Tommy. The Attorney-General's Office plans to file a civil lawsuit in the state administrative court in an attempt to recover some of the money that the elder Mr Soeharto allegedly transferred from state coffers. Attorney-General Abdul Rahman Saleh said his office was still calculating how much money it wants to seize. "One thing for sure, it's a lot of money," he told the Jakarta Post.Human-rights groups had criticised the decision not to pursue criminal charges against Mr Soeharto. "No charges have been brought against the former president for human-rights violations committed during his more than three decades of power, or for the violence instigated by pro-Soeharto forces in a failed attempt to stave off his 1998 fall from power," United States-based Human Rights Watch said in a report last week. Mr Soeharto, who now is usually only seen in public being taken to hospital for various ailments, has made no comment about the civil suit. He has previously denied amassing illegal wealth, saying the foundation money was spent helping the poor. The Attorney-General's Office has also announced that it plans to pursue Tommy Soeharto over allegedly corrupt funds that it suspects he placed in bank accounts in the British tax haven of Guernsey. Mr Saleh told reporters his office would appoint a lawyer in Guernsey to try to recover any funds obtained illegally in Indonesia. Tommy has been busy since he was released from jail last November after serving less than a third of his original 15-year sentence for paying a gunman to kill a judge who had convicted him of corruption and illegal-weapons possession. He has announced plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars building three large property projects, including a resort on 400 hectares and a marina at Kuta on the resort island of Bali. Business consultants in Jakarta say the Soeharto family controlled assets worth billions of dollars when Mr Soeharto stepped down in 1998. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
