Indonesia bringing civil action against Suharto for misuse of charitable funds News
Indonesia bringing civil action against Suharto for misuse of charitable funds

[JURIST] Indonesia Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh announced Thursday that by the end of the month the state plans to bring a civil action against former president Haji Mohammad Suharto [CNN profile] for alleged misuse of charitable funds. The suit will concern the Supersemar foundation, created by Suharto in 1974 as a scholarship fund for students, and could be followed by as many as six others.

Suharto was ousted from power in 1998 amid violent protests against his three-decade dictatorship of Indonesia [JURIST news archive]. The Jakarta Court of Appeals ruled [JURIST report] in August last year that the Attorney General was correct to drop criminal charges of corruption [JURIST report] against Suharto for misuse of charitable monies, citing Suharto's inability to speak or write as a result of permanent brain damage [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus

On April 27, 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland and parts of several midwestern states during the American Civil War. Lincoln took this action to address draft riots and the threat of secession by Union states bordering the Confederacy. The President maintained his suspension even after it was overturned by the federal judiciary in Ex parte Merryman 17 F.Cas. 144 (1861). Learn more about Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus.

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