|
Jakarta: An Indonesian court on Thursday acquitted the late former president Suharto of allegations of misusing funds by one of his charitable foundations in a $1.4 billion civil suit.
But the court ordered that the Supersemar foundation pay around $110 million to the government.
The suit has been seen as a key test of the government's commitment to clamp down on a culture of corruption that was allowed to flourish under Suharto's long rule.
A board of judges at the South Jakarta court ruled Suharto could not be held responsible personally because decisions were approved by the Supersemar foundation's board.
"It was not proven that the first defendant (Suharto) has violated any law," chief judge Wahyono said.
The lawsuit brought by state prosecutors had sought a total of $440 million of state funds and a further 10 trillion rupiah ($1.09 billion) in damages over the alleged misuse of funds by the Supersemar foundation.
Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years until 1998, died in January at the age of 86 and the court subsequently ordered one of his children to defend the case.
A lawyer representing the foundation, Juan Felix Tampubolon, said it would appeal the decision.
None of the Suharto children were in court.
Suharto's family accumulated extensive business interests during the former ruler's three decades in power, including hotels, toll roads, car manufacturers, airlines, and TV stations.
Transparency International ranked Suharto as the world's leading kleptocrat with a fortune estimated at $15-$35 billion.
The foundation collected donations from business executives and other sources to provide scholarships. Many organisations regarded such donations as more or less compulsory during Suharto's rule.
In previous hearings, prosecutors told the court that during the 1980s and 1990s, the foundation paid money to companies owned by members of the Suharto family or their close associates.
These included a privately owned bank, an airline controlled by one of Suharto's sons, a logging firm, and a cooperative linked to Golkar, the political party which was run by Suharto, which is now a member of the ruling coalition.
Critics say the former general and his family amassed as much as $45 billion in kickbacks or deals, but Suharto and his family have always previously denied any wrongdoing.
Attempts to bring criminal charges for graft against Suharto were dropped in 2001 because the supreme court justice at that time ruled he was too ill to stand trial.
|
