Behind Bars or Tried by a People’s Tribunal
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putera is in a quandary. The youngest child of former President Suharto has to make a decision before the end of the week whether to resist the Supreme Court ruling which annulled a lower court judgment and sentenced him to 18 months in jail for corruption, or file for a pardon with President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Both choices are risky. If he resists the Supreme Court ruling and asks for a review of his case, that means he would have to spend time in jail until after the Supreme Court completes reviewing the case and a final decision is made. On the other hand, if he files for pardon with the president, it means that—while he is not required to spend time in prison—he accepted the judgment that he was guilty.
Even if Wahid is generous and grants his request—a remote possibility considering recent statements by Wahid on the issue—that means he would enjoy only a temporary reprieve because he has yet to account for other corruption cases. The Goro-Bulog case, which the Supreme Court ruling refers to, is only one of at least four corruption cases filed against him. A final decision is yet to be made by the court over his involvement in the so-called National Car Project, Clove Buffer Stock & Trading Agency and Gatari Air cases. Not to mention the possibility of a further probe into allegations of corruption in government projects involving his Humpuss group of companies.
Over the years Tommy and his siblings have become a symbol of corruption, collusion, and nepotism of the Suharto era. The Indonesian public were dazzled by the meteoric rise of Suharto’s business empire as the sons and daughters of the former dictator grew up, Like King Midas who had the power to turn everything he touched into gold, the children suddenly found themselves awash with wealth from contracts on mega projects awarded them with the direct and indirect intervention of their father.
Now, the projects that looked so impressive before, turn out to have been built at highly inflated costs. In the case of Suharto, trillions of rupiah belonging to the charity foundations founded by Presidential Decree went to the children in loans that have since soured following the 1997 monetary crash.. The funds, originally meant for social welfare programs, were collected from mandatory contributions by state enterprises and deductions from the salaries of government employees.
Misuse of the funds should have been enough evidence to send Suharto to jail. Unfortunately, the court, presided over by Judge Lalu Maryun, chose to let Suharto go for health reasons rather than passing a judgment that would satisfy the public’s sense of justice. In setting Suharto free, Judge Maryun, seemed to have forgotten his own words on being appointed to the court that he would uphold the law "even if the heaven falls."
The Court’s decision to drop the case as there was no guarantee that the prosecutor would be able to present Suharto—because his doctors said the former strongman of Indonesia suffered from a permanent disability after two recent strokes—deeply hurt the feelings of the people for justice. What if a robber who took possession of Maryun’s property suddenly suffered a stroke, would he make the same decision as he did with Suharto and let the robber bequeath the stolen property to his children
Laws are made in order to prevent the public from taking the law into their own hands. A court which by its decision destroys its own credibility will only reinforce the urge of the masses to set up a people’s tribunal to bring Suharto to justice, something which every one of us does not want to happen because of the potential it would have to self-destruct this nation.
It is this fear of self-destruction that has apparently made President Wahid, a highly credible person with an obsession to prevent national disintegration, to state from the very beginning that he would pardon Suharto if the court found him guilty. Obviously, Wahid would rather let the people criticize him or even bring him down, if necessary, than taking the responsibility for the loss of public confidence in the judicial system. Again, unfortunately, Judge Maryun and his panel of judges are not concerned with this fear of self-destruction.
We earnestly hope everyone with power to decide the case against Tommy and the duty to uphold the law, act more wisely. And we appeal to the Suharto family, especially to the children of the former president, to repent. Admit your mistakes, act like gentlemen, and show a willingness to bear the consequences of what you have done. However serous the sins attributed to Suharto, it does not mean that the "Great General" has not done anything good for the nation. Besides, almost none of us are free of the collective sin of letting Suharto stay in power for so long.
If the Suharto family is willing to take the road of repentance and bear the legal consequences, they would then have set the snowball of mutual forgiveness in motion for the sake of a better future for this nation. Time spent in jail is better than going on trial by a people’s tribunal—not only for the Suharto family but for every one of us.
MH