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Indonesian President Insists on Trying Soeharto
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid insisted on trying former President Soeharto for the sake of the legal supremacy.
No single Indonesian citizen was above the law, the president stressed while speaking before 200 participants of the National Forum in Bali on Saturday.
Wahid added that Soeharto's trial does not mean that the entire nation must hate him because he had devoted much of his life to the country and the people.
Nor does it mean that the country's former strongman is not entitled to have get-together (silaturahmi) with other Indonesian people, the president said.
"Soeharto will continue to be tried, while on the other hand, we will also continue to hold silaturahmi with him. This does not mean if Soeharto is tried, we must hate him," he was quoted by the Antara News Agency Sunday as saying.
Last Week, Wahid said the ailing 79-year-old former president may hand over more than 40 billion U.S. dollars to the government.The president said Soeharto will be pardoned if found guilty of graft, as long as he returns his wealth.
Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana Tuesday admitted meeting Mines and Energy Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently, but denied reports that the family wants to return Soeharto's wealth to the state.
Siti, who represents the family in the talks, repeated Soeharto's claim that he has no money stashed overseas.
On Saturday, Yudhoyono said that negotiations with Soeharto's family on returning the former ruler's wealth to the state would be restarted.
"We will build a new communication," said Yudhoyono, who is acting as the government's representative in the talks.
Soeharto has been facing corruption charges in his 32 years rule of the country. He was declared as suspect early this year and was put under house arrest by the Attorney General's Office in May.
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