The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The mediation meeting Tuesday at the Attorney General's Office (AGO) between prosecutors and lawyers for former president Soeharto over the Supersemar foundation civil lawsuit ended in a no-win for both parties.
The case involves alleged state losses of US$420 million and the AGO team's head prosecutor Dachamer Munthe said they would now prepare to go to trial.
He said Soeharto lawyers disagreed with the prosecution's demand for the former president to admit he had broken the law and should reimburse money lost to the state.
Soeharto's lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon, however, said the lawyers had disagreed with the prosecution's argument.
""There is no use in mediation meetings if the prosecutors still want us to accept allegations our client behaved illegally,"" Juan said.
""That is the most substantial theme in the whole process of the case.""
He said Soeharto's lawyers were optimistic about winning the case because they had found their client had not violated any regulations during his tenure as the foundation's chairman.
The opposing parties have held three mediation meetings after Presiding Judge Wahyono's legal insistence at the opening of the first hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on August 9.
According to article 2 of Supreme Court Regulation No. 2/2003 on mediation procedures, judges must order mediation as the first step toward dealing with civil cases.
If the mediation fails, the case would then move to trial, as stipulated by article 12 of the same regulation.
Dachamer said there should be another opportunity for the parties to hold negotiations outside court during the trial in order to seek the most feasible solution to the case.
Soeharto used a government regulation to establish the Supersemar charity foundation in 1976.
It was initially aimed at providing scholarships from funds collected from businessmen around the country for needy students with good academic records.
More than 100,000 students at various levels have received a scholarship from the foundation.
The prosecutors believe the foundation donated half the funds and gave the rest to Soeharto's ""cronies"", including business tycoon Mohammad (Bob) Hasan.
The AGO filed a civil lawsuit against Soeharto over the Supersemar foundation case at the South Jakarta District Court in July this year.
The prosecutors have demanded the return of almost Rp 15 trillion (US$1.6 billion).
They have also called for the seizure of the Granadi building located in the Kuningan area, South Jakarta, which houses the Soeharto foundation. (10)
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