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Suharto foundation ordered to return US$110m to state

A charitable foundation set up by late Indonesian dictator Suharto was ordered yesterday to pay US$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 percent of the sum that state prosecutors were seeking in missing funds.

The court rejected a separate damages claim of US$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 of its funds to companies linked to the dictator, who died in January at the age of 86.

Since his death, Suharto's children were named as defendants in the case under Indonesian law. None were in court to hear the ruling.

Both Suharto and the foundation were also named as defendants in the suit.

"It is fair and fitting that 25 percent [of the sum demanded] be returned," said Wahyono, who goes by a single name.

Mohammed Assegaf, a Suharto family lawyer, said he would appeal the ruling.

"Where did they get that figure from?" he asked.

Prosecutor Dahmer Munte said his team would study the ruling, especially the section on why Suharto and his family were not considered liable, but that "in principle our lawsuit has been proved, namely that the foundation has abused the funds."

Suharto's 32-year rule ended in 1998 amid student protests and nationwide riots.

In 2000, prosecutors charged him with embezzling US$600 million, but he never saw the inside of court after his lawyers argued that a series of strokes had left him with irreversible brain damage. Critics say that case represented only a tiny fraction of the money he and his family stole.
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