PROBOSUTEDJO - CURRENT EVENTS - STORIES FROM THE EDITORS

THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MR SUHARTO

CORRUPTION (CRIMINAL) ALLEGATION
As Mr. Suharto is half conscious because of his illness due to his age, the citizens of Indonesia are caught in the debate regarding corruption allegations against him.

Ten years after his resignation as the President of the Republic of Indonesia, corruption allegations have never subsided, even though no hard evidence of corruption have been substantiated and not one large foreign bank account has ever been found.

The truth is that the Bank Officers in foreign countries are legally obliged to report the existence of bank accounts and assets of individuals suspected of Corruption or are suspects in Criminal Proceedings. These very Bank Officers face criminal sanctions if they do not report these bank accounts or assets.

Therefore, if Mr. Suharto has any bank accounts abroad, these accounts would have to be reported to the legal authorities in those countries and his bank accounts would be frozen. In accordance with International Banking Laws, the banks would be required to inform the Indonesian Attorney General. (Note: Mr. Suharto has signed a standing order to give legal access to the Attorney General to approach banks in other countries in order to determine if he has any bank accounts there. This order applies even today.)

This system has repeatedly and successfully been applied to those who are accused of being terrorists or funders of terrorism.

In a Metro TV interview, Mr. Andy Ghalib, who was an Attorney General, clearly stated that he met with the Swiss authorities and they determined that Mr. Suharto’s has never had any bank accounts in their county. To this day, the Swiss authorities have never notified the Indonesian authorities of the existence of any bank account or accounts belonging to Mr. Suharto.

The accusations made against Mr. Suharto are not actually targeted against Mr. Suharto himself, but his family. It is no secret that several members of Mr. Suharto’s family, such as; Mr. Bambang, Mr. Tommy, Ms. Tutut, Mr. Probosutedjo and Mr. Sudwikatmono own successful business empires. If those empires were combined, the amount of assets they would control would be considerable. However, these are not assets belonging to Mr. Suharto and should in no way be included in any calculation of his wealth.

In addition, the “fantastic” amount of assets purported to be owned by Mr. Suharto, as reported by anti-corruption organizations however, are based on calculations by certain newspapers. How is it possible that those newspapers know for sure what Mr. Suharto’s family owns when asset information can only be known by the shareholders, the notaries (who make the company’s memorandums), the auditors, and government officials? With the exception of companies which have gone public, it is impossible for these publications to obtain an accurate value of these assets. Only a handful of Mr. Suharto’s family’s companies are public companies. Therefore, it must be concluded that the data used to calculate the value of these assets are fabricated by these publications and have no basis in fact.

CIVIL ALLEGATION
Due to a total lack of evidence, Mr. Suharto’s criminal corruption accusations have been halted. Unfortunately, the Government is now trying to accuse him of the misappropriation of funds belonging to charitable organizations (charities) headed by him. Mr. Suharto is accused of enriching himself, his family and friends by channeling charitable funds to their companies. The government is currently demanding the return of US$ 420 million and IDR 185.92 billion plus IDR 10 trillion in immaterial damages.

According to the State Attorney Legal Team the charity has accumulated US$ 420 million and IDR 185.92 billion, and that all of those monies have been invested in companies belonging to Mr. Suharto’s family and cronies. It is not clear whether the alleged amount accumulated was obtained gradually since 1974, and what the government means by immaterial damages.

Mr. Suharto led this country for 32 years. Every 5 years he gave a speech accounting for state expenditures in front of hundreds of members of the Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (which is equivalent to the House of Lords in England). Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat or MPR has the highest authority presiding over the President, the Supreme Court, the Military and other Government Institutions.

Each time after Mr. Suharto’s accountability speech the MPR accepted it without any complaints. This means that Mr. Suharto’s accountability speech was accepted without comments 6 times during his presidential rule. The MPR members knew about the existence of the charities led by Mr. Suharto. If anyone of the members had any objections then they had 32 years to tell him. At the very least they had one chance every five years to tell him right after his accountability speech.

It must be clearly stated that the funds in the charities are comprised of donations from companies and the government. This is because the private sector feels that, to be fair, the responsibility to help the Indonesian poor should be borne by everyone in the country, including the government. That’s why, in addition to the billions of Rupiah donated by successful businessmen and philanthropists, the government also donated.

In addition, when did it become a crime to want to help out a charity? Mr. Suharto lent his name to countless of charitable organizations in order to facilitate donations. As a public figure, it makes common sense that the endorsement from the President of the country would assist in raising donations. Around the world, public figures support various causes because they believe that the charitable work will help the less fortunate. They use their notoriety in order to assist in what they feel to be good causes.

However, most of these public figures are not involved in the decision making processes of the charities they support, which is the same situation that Mr. Suharto has been placed in. Mr. Suharto supported noble causes in order to help his people, but in return has been indicted for the mismanagement of others that fail to stand up and be accountable.

WATCH VIDEO!
For more information surrounding Mr. Suharto’s corruption accusations watch Mr. Probosutedjo’s interview clip.