[JURIST] Several prominent Indonesian lawyers told AFP on Monday that a civil corruption case against former Indonesian President Haji Mohammed Suharto [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] could continue after Suharto's death [JURIST report] on Sunday. Suharto, who ruled Indonesia as President from 1967 to 1998, was sued by the government on charges that he embezzled $440 million from the Yayasan Supersemar [official website], a state-funded scholarship fund, between 1974 and 1998. Prosecutors began proceedings [JURIST report] in September seeking to recover $440 million in diverted states funds and $1.1 billion in damages from Suharto. On Monday, a human rights lawyer was quoted as saying that Indonesian law permits recovery from a decedent's estate of funds that were illegally converted during the person's lifetime.

The government dropped criminal corruption charges against Suharto when several strokes rendered him unable to speak or write [JURIST reports]. AFP has more.