By
The Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Under a hail of rocks and gasoline bombs, riot police battled protesters yesterday near the home of ex-dictator Suharto after Indonesia's attorney general said he was ready to force the former president into court for trial on corruption charges.
Police fired tear gas to disperse about 200 protesters bombarding officers with rocks and gasoline bombs near Suharto's Jakarta home, which was protected by about 100 Suharto supporters.
At least one person was injured, six people were arrested and a military car was set afire, police said.
The clashes came after attorney general Marzuki Darusman announced that he was ready to force Suharto to attend the corruption trial if he defies a third summons to appear.
Suharto has claimed ill health keeps him from coming to court to face charges he embezzled at least $583 million in government money to bankroll businesses controlled by his cronies and children.
The trial judge has twice instructed Suharto to appear. The second summons is for the trial's upcoming session Sept. 28.
"After the third summons ... we will have the power to produce the defendant by all possible measures," he told a foreign business executive's breakfast in Jakarta.
Doctors of the former strongman, ousted amid pro-democracy protests and riots in 1998, say three strokes have damaged his brain. But government physicians maintain he is fit enough to face court.
In an effort to break the impasse, judges ordered an independent medical team to examine Suharto and present their report when the trial reconvenes.
The 24-member group was set up on Wednesday and includes physicians from the state health department, three other medical schools and private health clinics.
Darusman said that if the judges rule that Suharto is unfit to stand trial, then the "public will have to accept that" and his office would not be able to proceed with the prosecution.
He said it would then be up to Indonesia's political leaders to decide what to do with Suharto.
