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Soeharto foundation buys time as courts grow impatient
Jakarta Post - September 21, 2015
Although the Supreme Court reached its decision last month, the South Jakarta District Court, the court that originally heard the case, only received the notice on Tuesday.
Denny Kailimang, a lawyer representing the foundation, which is owned by the family of former president Soeharto, told The Jakarta Post that he was not aware of the notice having been issued.
"As of today, we have not received any notice. We will wait for the notice from the [South Jakarta District] court and it is up to the prosecutors to decide what happens next," he said on Saturday.
While the foundation has not yet decided its next move, Denny claimed there was no explanation as to why the his client should pay the amount specified.
In 1998, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) conducted an audit into the Supersemar Foundation, alongside several other foundations that were suspected of embezzling funds. Following the probe, the AGO declared the foundation in the clear.
"As far as we are concerned, we were audited in 1998 with the permission of Pak Harto [Soeharto] and no foul play was detected," Denny said.
The case dates to 2008, when the AGO filed a lawsuit at the South Jakarta District Court accusing the Soeharto family and the foundation of misusing scholarship funds by diverting them to their own companies.
The South Jakarta District Court found the foundation guilty of misusing the funds and ordered it to pay a penalty.
The Supreme Court upheld the decision in 2010 and demanded that the foundation pay $315 million and Rp 139.2 billion, which roughly equals Rp 4.4 trillion under the present valuation.
A problem arose when it was discovered that the earlier decision by the lower court contained a typographical error, stating that the rupiah portion of the ordered payment should be Rp 139.2 million, rather than Rp 139.2 billion.
Meanwhile, Attorney General M. Prasetyo said that the South Jakarta District Court would meet the AGO and the Supersemar Foundation to discuss the method of payment.
"[The payment mechanism] is based on the lower court's authority. The court will summon the two sides and ask the foundation whether or not it is able and willing to pay the sum," he told reporters on Friday afternoon.
"Hopefully, the foundation's leaders are willing and the issue can be resolved quickly." If the foundation refused to pay the fine, Prasetyo said, the South Jakarta District Court would be forced to confiscate its assets.
However, the attorney general added that it was possible that the foundation would be allowed to pay in installments if unable to pay the fine in full within eight days of receiving notice.
"We will see what their condition is, whether the Supersemar Foundation is indeed cash-strapped," he said, adding that the AGO had already evaluated part of the assets owned by the foundation.
South Jakarta District Court spokesman Made Sutisna confirmed that the court would convene the foundation and the AGO before moving to demand the payment.
"The South Jakarta District Court will let each side study the verdict. Only after that will the winning side [AGO] be able to file for a request for the verdict's execution," Sutisna said on Saturday.
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