Suharto

Indonesia has made significant progress in advancing democracy, decentralisation and press freedom since the fall of former President Suharto ten years ago, according to Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla."Many things have changed, but these three are surely the most important," said Kalla in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).Suharto was forced to resign on 21 May 1998 after wides

JAKARTA • A lawyer for the son of late Indonesian president Suharto said yesterday he would file a suit in the British dependency of Guernsey seeking the release of millions of dollars in frozen assets. Otto Cornelius Kaligis said that Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra Suharto would file evidence in a Guernsey court to block a [...]

Indonesian prosecutors said on Monday they had were suing former President Suharto's youngest son for more than $400 million over a business deal involving his failed national car project.The attorney general's office, acting on behalf of the finance ministry, seeks 4 trillion rupiah ($439 million) in damages from Hutomo Mandala Putra Suharto, usually known as Tommy, and his companies, which include PT Humpuss.PT Timor Putra Nasional, set up by Tommy Suharto to build Indonesia's national car, defaulted on its loans to Indonesian state banks after the 1997-98 financial crisis.But in 2003, Timor's assets were sold to a little-known company called Vista Bella Pratama.The sale was a breach of Indonesia's regulations as both the seller and buyer were controlled by the same individual, Tommy Suh

A charitable foundation set up by the late Indonesian dictator Suharto was ordered Thursday to pay $110 million to the government in a ruling on a civil case intended to claw back funds allegedly stolen from the state during his rule.The figure is 25% of the sum that state prosecutors were seeking in missing funds.The court rejected a separate damages claim of $1.1 billion.Judges made it clear in their ruling that money must be paid by the foundation Suharto set up, not the family of the late dictator.Nevertheless, Judge Wahyono ruled that "Suharto and his foundation broke government rules" by siphoning off some its funds to companies linked to the dictator, who died in January at the age of 86.Indonesia News Blog:

Probados por la Comisión de Derechos HUmanos de Indonesia:Indonesia's Human Rights Commission has opened inquiries into mass killings and widespread rights abuses during the 32-year Suharto dictatorship, in an attempt to finally bring the perpetrators to justice.Four teams have begun collecting evidence in the purge of communists during Suharto's rise to power in 1965, alleged atrocities by Indonesian soldiers in the remote Aceh and Papua regions and scores of killings and abductions blamed on security forces in the mid-1980s.Suharto died in January at age 86 without having seen the inside of a courtroom, but "there are still so many people involved in the human rights violation cases that have remained untouched," commission member Ridha Saleh told The Associated Press on Tuesday.The inq

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia’s Human Rights Commission has opened inquiries into mass killings and widespread rights abuses during the 32-year Suharto dictatorship in an attempt to finally bring the perpetrators to justice. Four teams have begun collecting evidence in the purge of communists during Suharto’s rise to power in 1965, alleged atrocities by Indonesian soldiers in [...]

Indonesia's former president Suharto took many secrets with him to his final resting place on his death in late January. But none were arguably as important as the unanswered questions about his role in the attempted 1965 coup d'etat - portrayed at the time as being masterminded by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) - and how he leveraged those events to maneuver into power, replacing the left-leaning president Sukarno. The official version of those events, which later underpinned the legitimacy of his rule, was that Suharto saved the day for the country after six of the country's top generals were horribly murdered

Setelah hampir satu dasawarsa perkara kasus dugaan korupsi mantan penguasa orde baru, Soeharto yang nilainya mencapai Rp 1,4 trilyun dan 416 juta dolar Amerika itu, belum juga terselesaikan. Padahal empat presiden silih berganti. Bahkan dapat dikatakan, kasus Soeharto merupakan simbol paling kuat dari diskriminasi hukum. Sebab kasusnya dibiarkan mengambang tanpa ada penuntasan sejak 10 tahun

Being 12,000 km away from Indonesia, I received the news of Suharto's at least 8 hours later. Yesterday, as Stuart directly went to sports channel, I went blogwalking and found out that the former Indonesian president died. I immediately sent texts to several friends asking how the situation in Indonesia after the news is spread out. I was thinking it would have created chaos, that people would have started demanding justice, to bring Suharto's children to trial. But no, I've heard my beloved country is officially in a state of mourning for 7 days.Having read John Orford's question whether Indonesians give respect too easily, I continued my blogwalking, and I've found so many (Indonesian) bloggers post about Suharto. I was amazed (and confused?) to read that most of them forgive Suharto an

Heute verstarb der Ex-Präsident Indonesiens Suharto mit 86 Jahren. Für mehr als 30 Jahre hatte Suharto Indonesien mit harter Hand regiert, nachdem er sich an die Macht geputscht hatte. Nach seiner Machtübernahme folgte ein durch ihn inszeniertes Massaker, dem einigen Schätzungen nach 1. Mio Menschen zum Opfer fielen. Es war somit der größte Massenmord der Geschichte nach dem 2. Weltkrieg.

JAKARTA, KAMIS - Mantan Presiden Soeharto meninggal dunia pada pukul 13.10 WIB, Hal ini diterangka Kapolsek Kebayoran baru, Kompol. Dicky Sonandi, di Jakarta, Minggu (27/1). Menurut rencana, jenazah akan segera disemayamkan di rumah duka Jalan Cendana, Jakarta.malah menurut detik, pemerintah menetapkan hari berkabung selama 7 hari juga lho.

INDONESIA'S National Human Rights Commission wants to reopen six cases of human rights violations during former president Suharto's era that had been put on hold, a senior commission official said on Saturday. Achmad Baso, the commission's research coordinator on cases during Mr Suharto's rule, said they included the killing of 5,000-10,000 Indonesians, mostly ethnic Chinese, in West Kalimantan in 1967-1968. The agency is also looking at cases of alleged human rights violations by the army in Aceh, which was torn by separatist violence for decades until a peace pact after the December 2004 tsunami, and in Papua where a low-level separatist insurgency has simmered for years. 'I don't know why the previous team put the cases on hold. We started following up the reports as soon as we were elected in late August and expect to complete our report by the end of December,' Mr Achmad told Reuters. The commission will meet next month to decide on whether it c

Indonesia is a much more violent country now than it was during the dictatorship of President Suharto, which ended in 1998, according to a leading human rights group.In an interview with AdnKronos International (AKI), Ifdhal Kasim, the director of Komnas Ham, the country’s sanctioned Human Rights Commission, said that violence was now perpetrated by organised groups of civilians as well as the military and the police."We have estimated that there has been a 60 percent increase in violence since the end of the Suharto regime,” he said.He said religious violence had surfaced lately with Islamic vigilantes attacking so-called "heretic" sects or demolishing allegedly illegally built churches.Kasim also spoke about frequent disputes between the police and the military, which had sometimes ended with armed exchanges.He claimed that police beat street vendors, beggars and prostitutes – all deemed offenders.“The Indonesian laws are still fragile and those who reinforce the law by using

A UN drive to recover billions of dollars in stolen assets worldwide, which lists former Indonesian president Suharto as the worst offender, sends a warning that Jakarta cannot allow the ailing ex-strongman to go unpunished, anti-corruption campaigners have warned.The Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative, launched by the UN this week in conjunction with the World Bank and Transparency International, estimates Suharto's plunder at between $US15 billion ($18 billion) and $US35 billion.It comes ahead of the opening next Monday of civil proceedings brought by the Attorney-General against Mr Suharto for the recovery of about $US400 million in embezzled funds, after attempts to bring criminal proceedings failed when the 86-year-old pleaded brain damage.Related:Indonesian president to discuss Soeharto's wealth ...Indonesia's former President Suharto tops bank 'bl...Indonesia News Blog: http://indosnesos.blogspot.com

The United Nations and the World Bank have placed Indonesia's former President Suharto at the top of a list of the world's highest-earning political leaders accused of stealing state assets.The UN and World Bank listing comes a week after Indonesia's Supreme Court ordered Time Magazine to pay $129 million in damages to the former dictator for a 1999 article accusing him and his family of amassing billions of dollars during his 32 years in power.The list is part of The Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative which is aimed at giving teeth to provisions of the UN treaty to fight global corruption, which came into force in December 2005, calling for the return of corruptly obtained state assets.Indonesia News Blog: http://indosnesos.blogspot.com

Judges in Indonesia have begun hearing a civil case against the former dictator Suharto, who is accused of stealing £219m from the state during his three decades of rule.State prosecutors accuse the former president, who ruled Indonesia from 1967 to 1998, of stealing money that went missing from a scholarship fund.The lawsuit seeks £500m in damages and the missing funds.Indonesia News Blog: http://indosnesos.blogspot.com

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is ready to produce strong evidence at the trial of civil claim against the Supersemar Foundation, which dragged down the name of the New Order ruler, Suharto.“The evidence is a book that clarifies the civil team verification result and also the Development Finance Controller (BPKP),” said Dahamer Munthe, head of the state attorneys’ team, yesterday (17/7).Dahamer said the book contains an account of the flow of funds from the Supersemar Foundation to several companies.“This strengthens the embezzlement of funds should be channeled for scholarships,” he said.

Indonesia’s strongman president, Suharto was the centre of public attention for decades. Nine years after he was toppled, the ageing ex-dictator lives largely as a recluse at his home in Jakarta, but his shadow still looms large.The former leader still makes headlines on the rare occasions he leaves his home to attend a family wedding or visit the tomb of his late wife, amid swirls of speculation about his health.Now 86, Suharto has managed to elude facing a criminal trial for allegedly embezzling an estimated $10 to 35bn during his 32-year rule over Indonesia.All four governments that have ruled since his departure have failed to hold him accountable for his actions, and a criminal suit against him was dismissed last year on health grounds after a six-year legal tussle.Earlier: Indonesian prosecutors file $1.5B lawsuit against ...

More than 25 witnesses are set to testify in a civil suit against ailing former Indonesian dictator Suharto to be lodged next week, an official from the attorney-general’s office said yesterday.Suharto, 85, has so far escaped a criminal trial over allegations he amassed millions of dollars in state assets during the three decades he ruled Indonesia with an iron fist.State attorney Dahmer Munthe told reporters that his office was seeking damages from Suharto and the Supersemar Foundation of 11.5tn rupiah ($1.3bn) and an undisclosed additional amount in dollars.“We will lodge the suit on July 9 or 10 next week,” he said, adding that 25 witnesses would be testifying.Munthe said the dossier against the former strongman was “in the final stages. We are reviewing it for typos, but it is very firm.”A corruption case against Suharto began in 2000, accusing him of misusing millions of dollars from charitable foundations - separate to the millions in state assets he is accused of sipho

The commemoration of nine years after President Suharto's resignation on May 21, 1998, was held yesterday (21/5) by a number of student organizations and non-governmental institutions (NGOs) in many cities in the country by staging rallies and demonstrations.In Jakarta, the rally of hundreds of students from many groups at Merdeka Palace was colored by tension when the crowd tried to go toward to palace. The rallies held in Denpasar, Kediri, Palu and other cities generally put forward the demand of the reformation agenda to be realized soon, one of which is bringing Suharto to trial.

Indonesia plans to reopen a corruption investigation into the youngest son of former leader Suharto, the attorney general's office said Monday.Tommy Suharto has so far escaped trial over allegations that he corruptly amassed millions of dollars during the three decades that his father ruled Indonesia with an iron fist.The probe will centre on his clove monopoly in the 1990s which saw tobacco companies forced to buy the spice used in a popular local variety of cigarettes from a board that he chaired at marked-up prices. News of the probe coincides with the ninth-year anniversary since Suharto stepped down, in 1998, amid a severe economic crisis and massive civil unrest. Tommy, whose real name is Hutomo Mandala Putra, will also be investigated for corruption over a scheme by a company that he owned to build a national car in the mid-1990s, the attorney general's office has said.The government is also attempting to seize millions of dollars in a bank account belonging to Tommy in the is

Two accounts at Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) were suspected of accommodating more than US$10 million that belongs to Hutomo Mandala Putra a.k.a. Tommy Suharto.One of the BNI accounts belongs to the Justice and Human Rights Department. However, Justice Minister Hamid Awaludin regarded the money flow as not violating the law. As reported by this week’s Tempo magazine, Tommy managed to claim that his money at BNP Paribas London due to the help of the Justice and Human Rights Department’s (formerly the Justice and Law Department) recommendation letter stating that the money of Motorbike International Limited that belongs to Tommy was clean from corruption.BNP Paribas then transferred the funds to the account of the Directorate General of General Legal Administration at the Justice and Human Rights Department at the BNI branch of Tebet, South Jakarta, on June 14, 2005. Minister Hamid acknowledged having asked BNP Paribas to transfer the funds to the account in Tebet. “Yes, it’s true

Yoseph Suardi Sabda, Deputy Attorney General for Civil and State Administration, acknowledged having heard information that Hutomo Mandala Putra a.k.a. Tommy Suharto released his funds at the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) Paribas, London branch, UK.“I’ve heard of (the funds disbursement). But I don’t know the details,” said Yoseph when contacted by Tempo a few days ago.Yoseph also said he heard that the release of funds by a bank in London in 2004 was done by transferring to an account of a department which had given a recommendation about the funds. “If I’m not mistaken, the amount was US$1 million or equivalent to Rp9 billion or Rp10 billion.”

Indonesia says it is investigating whether millions of dollars deposited in Britain's Channel Islands by a son of former president Suharto was obtained illegally.Jakarta was drawn into the case after a company owned by Suharto's youngest son, "Tommy", sued the French bank BNP Paribas for refusing to release at least $US 46 million it had deposited.A court in the island of Guernsey has approved the Indonesian government's request to be a third party in the case.

A Guernsey court on Monday approved an application by the Indonesian government to freeze tens of millions of dollars allegedly hidden illegally on the island by Hutomo Mandala Putra, the youngest son of the country's former dictator, Suharto.Jakarta's action is an intervention granted by the Channel Island royal court in a case where Garnet Investment, incorporated in the British Virgin islands and owned by Mr Hutomo - known as Tommy Suharto - is suing a branch of BNP Paribas for refusing to release at least €36m ($45.6m, £23.5m) and perhaps as much as €75m from its account.Related : Chasing money in Guernsey"In its lawsuit, Garnet relates the following: On July 22, 1998, Tommy Suharto opened three accounts with BNP Paribas in Guernsey. This happened only about two months after Suharto resigned and the Clove Marketing Buffer Agency (BPPC) owned by Tommy failed to pay its debt of Rp1.749 trillion to the clove cooperative and growers. When winding up his obligation to the c

Indonesian state prosecutors plan to file a civil suit against former dictator Suharto later this month over alleged misuse of charitable funds, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said Thursday.Suharto, 85, has so far escaped trial over allegations he amassed billions of dollars in state assets during the three decades he ruled Indonesia with an iron fist, including through foundations he ran. "The first step will be the Supersemar, but that is not the last one, we continue to study the cases and there are still six others (foundations)," he said.The Supersemar foundation, founded by Suharto in 1974, collects donations from businesspeople and other donors to provide scholarships for students.Almost 800,000 scholarships have been awarded by the foundation but, as a private foundation, its fund management has never been made public.