INDONESIA: Moves to recover Suharto billions
Updated
Prosecutors in Indonesia have filed a civil lawsuit against former dictator, Suharto. They want the disgraced former President to repay almost $2-billion US dollars in stolen finds and in damages. It revives efforts to retrieve some of the many billions in state funds thought to have been siphoned off by Suharto and his family during his 32 years in power. It signals an admission by the current administration that there's no chance of pursuing a criminal case.
Presenter: Karon Snowdon
Speakers: HS Dillon, a former human rights and anti-corruption commissioner
SNOWDON: Its been a long time coming. Almost a decade and four Presidents since Suharto fell from power and now there's a case that might result in some justice - even though it will be largely symbolic.
HS Dillon a former Human Rights and anti-corruption Commissioner has witnessed all the previous failures.
DILLION: What we have in particular in Javanese culture, you are not supposed to attack or malign your elders so they can pass their old age in peace. So what we have of course Habibie would have never brought Suharto to there. But what Gus Dur did and I was there when he did that, he had actually proposed that according to Islamic law, if he could come up and give some of his money back there would be Islah, as the Arabs say there would be some sort of resolution to this. So with Mega she did not go against him because there is this nagging suspicion that leaders do not want to go against him because they don't want to create precedence that one day will go against them.
SNOWDON: The case, filed in the South Jakarta District Court on Monday, is going after more than 400 million dollars prosecutors allege was directly stolen and just over one billion dollars in damages.
Its alleged Suharto funnelled the money to his family's companies through the Supersemar scholarship Foundation which he chaired. Some of the companies belonged to his son, Tommy.
HS Dillon says the case is not so much about punishing Suharto - he's 86 years old, but more about finally establishing a case for prosecuting the dictator's children. Is thought they have many billions of ill-gotten dollars stashed in overseas accounts.
DILLON: The real thinking at that time and we were working with Gus Dur Abdurrahman Wahid and Mazuki Darusman the Attorney General the strategy was to prosecute and then to convict Suharto and then eventually you know to pardon him. The main objective being once he had been convicted even though he had been pardoned, then we would have been able to get to his children and to his cronies. There would have been then a sense of justice has been served.
SNOWDON: How far does this civil case go if it proceeds and if its successful, to salve the need for justice in Indonesia?
DILLON: Not too far in the sense we will not be able to see him behind bars. That is not the intention, I don't think any Indonesian really would like to see this old President of theirs behind bars, but they would like to see the children. So if this really goes well which is a really big if, then what we could see is that his wealth is in his children's names and all that. If that can be shown to be coming through him then that could be confiscated (and) that would be a partial sense of justice of the ill-gotten wealth could be returned to the public.
SNOWDON: So how serious is this effort at prosecution of Suharto?
DILLON: I think its pretty serious because this chap who is now the Attorney General, he is a very serious guy. You see the main factor arresting Indonesia's development right now I call it impunity, both against corruption and human rights violations.
SNOWDON: The Attorney General this time has brought a civil case as it doesn't require Suharto's appearance in court. Previous criminal charges have failed when doctors have claimed his poor health made him unfit to stand trial.
While a civil case is the only option and it goes some way to improve the current government's credibility for going after the corrupt, Suharto's human rights abuses during his three decades in power remain beyond the government's interest.
