TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Soeharto's foundation told to pay damages
A coalition of anti-graft watchdogs wants the Attorney Generalâs Office (AGO) to implement a court ruling which ordered the Supersemar Scholarship Foundation, controlled by the family of former president Soeharto, to pay millions of dollars in fines
Change Size
A
coalition of anti-graft watchdogs wants the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to implement a court ruling which ordered the Supersemar Scholarship Foundation, controlled by the family of former president Soeharto, to pay millions of dollars in fines.
The Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition said that the AGO must demand the foundation pays US$315 million and Rp 139 million ($14,317) as ordered in a 2010 Supreme Court ruling or seize the foundation's assets.
Febri Diansyah of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said that seizure of Supersemar's asset would be a milestone in the campaign to end the impunity of the Soeharto family.
'Fifteen years after reform, a case against Soeharto has not been resolved. The AGO must take actions to return the funds to the state,' Febri said during a meeting with Deputy Attorney General Darmono in South Jakarta earlier this week.
The ruling describes how the foundation accepted $420 million and Rp 185 billion from state-owned banks as 'donations' based on the 1976 regulation obliging banks to transfer 2.5 percent of their net profits to the foundation.
The coalition believe the AGO has the right to force the foundation to pay the fines, in its capacity of the legal representative of the government in its battle against the Soehartos.
Erwin Natosmal of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR) said that the state would suffer more losses if the foundation delayed payment.
'The fine is worth Rp 3.07 trillion if we use today's currency rate. If we were to deposit the fund in a bank with one-percent interest each year, the country loses Rp 83 million per day,' Erwin said.
Deputy Attorney General Darmono said that prosecutors would follow up on the coalition's demands.
'This is our duty to collect the fines. Deputy Attorney General on Civil and State Administrative Law Burhanuddin has expressed willingness to follow up the Supreme Court ruling. This means that we will take legal action based on our authority,' Darmono said.
The coalition believe that the AGO's ability to collect the fines could work as political pressure for the prosecution of the remaining six Soeharto's foundations.
Other than Supersemar, none of Soeharto's six foundation has been investigated for tax evasion.
The foundations are Dana Sejahtera Mandiri Foundation, Dharma Bhakti Sosial (Dharmais) Foundation, Dana Abadi Karya Bhakti (Dakab) Foundation, Amal Bhakti Muslim Pancasila Foundation, Dana Gotong Royong Kemanusiaan Foundation and Trikora Foundation.
