Prosecutors file civil lawsuit against Suharto foundation

''Today, we officially file a civil lawsuit at the South Jakarta District Court against Supersemar Foundation for its illegal activities,'' Chief Prosecutor Dachamer Munthe of the Attorney General's Office told reporters.

According to Munthe, $420 million received from donors for the foundation, which should have been used to provide scholarships for poor students, have gone nowhere.

He did not elaborate, but in May Alex Tobiya, junior attorney general for civil and state administrative crimes, said the money was transferred to companies owned by Suharto's cronies.

''We want the foundation to repay the money,'' he said.

Suharto founded Supersemar through a government regulation in 1976. It collected donations from businesspeople and others to provide scholarships for poor students.Almost 800,000 scholarships had been awarded by the foundation but, as it is a private foundation, its books have never been opened to the public.

In May, the Attorney General's Office dropped corruption charges against Suharto in criminal court and closed the case due to Suharto's poor health, which it said leaves him unable to face prosecution.

Suharto is alleged to have embezzled $419 million and 1.3 trillion rupiah (about $150 million) in public money during his 32 years in power.

Anticorruption groups and human rights activists have demanded Suharto be brought to justice for not only massive corruption but also gross human rights violations during his iron-fisted rule that ended in 1998 in the wake of massive public protest.

Suharto was charged in the multimillion dollar corruption case, but in 2000 the Supreme Court declared him too ill to stand trial and ordered the prosecutors to provide medical treatment to Suharto until he recovers.

Suharto never showed up for his trial and many believe his cronies are still exerting influence to prevent him from being brought to justice.//Kyodo