Suharto interrogated at his residence

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, APRIL 3. The Wahid administration today traversed the proverbial extra mile in its quest for ensuring probity in Indonesia's emerging democracy.

A team of prosecutors nominated by the Attorney General, Mr. Marzuki Darusman, today went to the residence of the former President, Gen. Suharto, in Jakarta to interrogate him in connection with the allegations that he had amassed ill-gotten wealth during his long, autocratic reign until May 1998.

But the spotlight lingered on the state of Gen. Suharto's health, and the actual interrogation was eclipsed as a result. The former President, who had at one stage shed his military rank, ignored three summonses to appear at the Attorney General's office in connection with the charges relating to the charitable foundations linked to him and his family. The third of these calls had set today for the interrogation, while the two previous notices pertained to planned hearings last week.

The notices were ignored on the plea by Gen. Suharto's lawyers and doctors that he was too ill to be interrogated following the stroke he had suffered last year.

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Section  : International
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