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by Kazi Mahmood KUALA LUMPUR (Islam Online) - Street violence sparked after news of ex-President Suharto's case had been dismissed from court. Suharto was judged too weak and mentally unfit to face charges resulting in an order by presiding Judge Lalu Mariyun to close the case. A deep silence and seeming disappointment greeted Mariyun's decision. After the decision, a large crowd gathered outside the makeshift courtroom, a government auditorium heavily guarded from the inside and the outside. Street protests followed with hundreds of anti-Suharto demonstrators clashing with police and groups of pro-Suharto supporters in pouring rain. Hundreds of police officers were placed on standby within various parts of the capital and scores were protected Suharto's home in central Jakarta. A bus and several motorcycles were set afire. Demonstrators threw rocks and gasoline bombs at officers. Dozens were injured and arrested. Officers fired gas guns at one protester's head and then beat him with sticks, witnesses said. Suharto's house has often been the target of violent and noisy protests, with home made bombs and Molotov cocktails thrown in its vicinity. Students form the majority of the anti-Suharto protestors. Indications are they will continue clashing with police and protest in the streets as long as Suharto is free. "Today is a black day in the history of Indonesia. The historic corruption case has to go on. Suharto represents 25 years of economic exploitation, poverty and dictatorship. It is unbelievable what happened today…" said a sobbing member of the student movement on the phone to Islam Online. The prosecution said it would appeal the decision because "the Indonesian people had waited long to hear the truth," chief prosecutor Muchtar Arrifin said. Suharto's political opponents regard the case as a chance for the reform-led government to recover huge sums of money the ex-President is accused of siphoning while in office. The end of the case is a setback for the efforts of Abdurrahman Wahid's government to end corruption and eliminate the influence of years of autocratic rule by the Golkar party under the leadership of Suharto.
"The people of Indonesia has to work in concert to prevent another Suharto-like regime to install itself in Indonesia. It is not a bad thing that the case is closed. It has to be settled out of court however. There should be stability, and security must be restored in the city from now on," said a businessman who believes that the country must turn the page on history and move on. Jakarta had been gripped by a reign of terror during the past 6 months with a series of bombings. The most dramatic occurred at the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX), killing more than 15. A still pro-Suharto army and some rich conglomerates were accused by the current regime as having a link to these bombings. Suharto's son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's had been arrested under orders from Wahid. When Tommy was released for lack of evidence, Wahid sacked the police chief. Tommy is considered a prime suspect in the bombings in the city. He has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on separate unrelated charges for his involvement in a corruption case centered on a 1998 land scam. The five-judge panel handling Suharto's case threw out charges against the ex-president accusing him of expropriating almost $600 million in public funds during a three-decade dictatorship. The court also ruled that Suharto, 79, be freed from house arrest and that other travel restrictions against him be lifted immediately. Suharto is said to have "stolen" more than the $600 million that includes forms than liquid money. Land and business deals involving his sons and daughters, investments outside Indonesia, and bank accounts in several offshore banks, including those in Mauritius and Switzerland, are of interest to the people of Indonesia. In an interview with Dr. Muhamad Isa Selamat of the Pondok Pesantren Darul Aiman in Pulau Bengkalis, Riau, Islam Online was told that it is time Indonesia enters a different time frame. "The people of Indonesia will gain more if they are patient and they forgive and forget Suharto. Forgiveness is part of Islam and it will show that the country is ready for the future if we all forgive an old man like Suharto. "What will the country gain if he is sent to jail? In fact we will all look like bloodthirsty if ever Suharto at this age is to be jailed. That would be acrimonious and it would be equal to a crime by itself." Selamat said. Selamat, an expert in Indonesian and Islamic culture, added that the current ongoing violence in the streets of Jakarta would not provide anything positive for the country. "The students, of all the people, should not show sentiments that depict them as having gone back to the time of uncomprehension [sic]. They should live with reality, and change their mentality. Then only, Indonesia will be a matured nation." The defense team in the Suharto case, jubilant at their success, said the prosecution could contest the decision if they wanted to. "But we have proved beyond doubt that the defendant is sick," the defenses' Juan Felix Tampubolon said. A 23-member team of court-appointed doctors said Suharto suffered from a complicated range of ailments and after three strokes, had been left mentally incapable of withstanding the rigors of a long court case. Thursday's decision, made as Wahid was on an official visit to South America, is likely to trigger further protests and weaken his political position, already shattered by a series of scandals and outbreaks of violence across the country. |
Students consider Suharto the symbol of the country's economic destruction and social and political degradation. Indonesia's population of over 200 million expected to start new and fresh, leaving the corruption of Suharto's regime behind after hi resignation in 1998. 
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