JAKARTA: The death of Suharto could see his children’s ability to evade justice threatened by a new vigour among Indonesia’s elite to pursue corruption charges against them, analysts say.

Suharto’s six children are widely seen as representing the worst excesses of cronyism during their late father’s rule, rarely eliciting the same affection the family’s patriarch enjoyed among many even after his fall from power.

Using family connections during the former president’s 32-year rule, the children amassed fortunes through an array of conglomerate companies, allegedly through preferment for contracts, kickbacks and bent regulations.

The family stole anywhere between $15 billion and $35 billion, according to a 2004 Transparency International (TI) estimate.

The plunder ended with the dictator’s popular overthrow in 1998, which sent the children scuttling in the face of an anti-corruption drive.

But Suharto’s death may free many in the country’s elite — who felt a sense of obligation to the “Father of Development” — to pursue corruption cases, said Transparency International Indonesia head Todung Mulya Lubis.

Suharto’s children have already taken steps to add legitimacy to their business empires by selling off high-profile, controversial assets. As possible heirs to their father, the children could find themselves hit up for more than $1.4 billion in damages and returned assets that the government is seeking, he added.

Suharto’s youngest son and reputed favourite Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra left prison in 2006 after serving only five years of an original 15-year sentence for ordering the assassination of a Supreme Court judge.

Tommy is now at the centre of several slow-moving corruption trials, while eldest sister Siti Hardiyanti “Tutut” Rukmana is faring better, with a probe into alleged kickbacks from a British arms firm having fizzled out years ago.

The biggest remaining business player is brother Bambang Trihatmojo, whose estimated wealth of $200 million puts him at 33rd place on Forbes Asia’s 2007 Indonesia rich list.

But with corruption still rife in Indonesia, the death of Suharto does not mean instant damnation for his children, said Arbi Sanit, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia.

Tommy’s fortunes in court, for instance, could still depend “on how much money Tommy gives to the police and judges” Sanit said, while agreeing that the former president’s death has diluted much of their impunity.

—AFP