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Former president Suharto placed under house arrest |
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May 30, 2000
JAKARTA, MAY 29 (AP) - After months of stalling, Indonesian prosecutor's placed disgraced ex-President Suharto under house arrest Monday and repeated their promise that the former dictator will stand trial within the next two months.
A spokesman for the attorney general's office, Yushar Yahya, said the move was needed to ensure questioning of Suharto could proceed smoothly to enable his trial to start before August 10, as pledged last week.
"This is to ensure the questioning continues," Yahya said.
Suharto's confinement, first suggested a week ago by Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman, was prompted by escalating public pressure, including violent protests by students demanding swift action against the former strongman.
The move placing Suharto under house arrest is eerily reminiscent of the last days of his predecessor, President Ahmed Sukarno, who died a broken man in 1970 - three years after he was forced from office by army generals and imprisoned in his home.
Suharto - himself a five-star general - was ousted from office in 1998 amid massive pro-democracy protests. He left behind a legacy of endemic corruption and nepotism.
In 1967, Suharto - then an army general - engineered Sukarno's removal because he had allegedly sympathized with the organizers of an abortive coup in September 1965, in which six other generals were killed.
Suharto, whose troops soon restored order, blamed the still unexplained mutiny on the Indonesian Communist Party. Some 500,000 leftists were slaughtered in ensuing reprisals, and hundreds of thousands of others were jailed without trial.
The former autocrat has been named a leading suspect in the corruption investigation involving the misuse of millions of dollars belonging to several charitable foundations, that his family controlled during his 32-year reign. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Suharto, 79, has been questioned several times despite his attorneys' assertions that he is mentally unfit after suffering a stroke last year. Several of his super-rich children have also been interrogated in connection with the case.
Suharto's lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon immediately denounced the move on Monday saying it was unnecessary and illegal.
"It's against the criminal justice system," he said, adding that the decision was "irrelevant because nowadays Suharto never leaves his home anyway."
Some analysts have called the decision an act of political jockeying by President Abdurrahman Wahid, saying there was no threat that Suharto would flee.
"This is just symbolic," said Dede Oetomo, a leading political analyst. "There's no chance he will run."
In recent weeks, there have been almost daily clashes in Jakarta between students demanding that Suharto be immediately prosecuted for corruption, and riot police.
Students have pledged to continue the protests. However, after the attorney general's statement, the streets around Suharto's residence were quiet although groups of riot police were deployed nearby.
Prior to Monday's announcement, there was speculation in the Indonesian media that Suharto would be imprisoned on an island just north of Jakarta, in an area where he frequently used to go fishing while he was in office.
Wahid has promised to pardon Suharto if he is found guilty and returns the millions of dollars he is alleged to have stolen.
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