Govt rejects Pakpahan request for foreign cure<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government turned down yesterday jailed
\nlabor leader Muchtar Pakpahan's request to travel abroad for
\nmedical treatment, as recommended by a private hospital.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Singgih said the government had sought a
\nsecond opinion from a team of doctors from the Cipto Mangunkusumo
\nGeneral Hospital who found that there was no need for Pakpahan to
\ntravel abroad.<\/p>\n
\"The doctors concluded that Pakpahan need not be treated
\nabroad because his condition is not fatal and because he can be
\ntreated here,\" Singgih told reporters.<\/p>\n
Pakpahan, chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union,
\nhas been at the Cikini private hospital in Central Jakarta since
\nMarch where he has had treatment for a lung tumor, a blood clot
\non the brain and appendicitis, according to the union's
\nsecretary-general, Sunarti.<\/p>\n
Cikini doctors said Pakpahan needed a lung imagy fluorescence
\nendoscopy (LIFE) which is unavailable in Indonesia. The treatment
\nis available in Singapore, the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n
Pakpahan, 43, this month formally requested, through the
\nNational Commission on Human Rights, the government to let him
\ntravel abroad for treatment.<\/p>\n
Pakpahan, who was convicted over a labor riot in Medan in
\n1994, is being tried by the South Jakarta District Court on
\ncharges of subversion over a series of antigovernment speeches he
\ngave last year. The hearing has been adjourned since March
\nbecause of his deteriorating health.<\/p>\n
Singgih said the government-appointed medical team, led by
\nhospital director Achmad Djojosugito, concluded that there was no
\nindication that Pakpahan needed LIFE treatment.<\/p>\n
He said the Jakarta High Court had ruled that Pakpahan's trial
\ncould resume and that the defendant could be accompanied by a
\ndoctor at the hearings.<\/p>\n
\"Our conclusion is that we will continue Pakpahan's trial, so
\nthat the case can be finished soon,\" Singgih said.<\/p>\n
In March, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Shattuck
\nvisited Pakpahan during a fact-finding mission on human rights.<\/p>\n
Shattuck reportedly told Pakpahan to seek treatment in the
\nUnited States. The proposal was rejected by Minister of Justice
\nOetojo Oesman, who said that Indonesian medical facilities were
\ngood enough.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, a delegation of the Geneva-based International
\nMetalworkers Foundation visited Pakpahan at the Cikini hospital
\nas a show of solidarity for his campaign for workers.<\/p>\n
Singgih reaffirmed his intention yesterday to take strong
\naction against recalcitrant prosecutors, saying that improving
\ndiscipline was his office's main priority.<\/p>\n
He said 60 prosecutors and 57 clerks had been dismissed or
\nreprimanded.<\/p>\n
\"Compared to the total number of prosecutors, however, there
\nare not many recalcitrant ones,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Singgih was quoted by the Kompas daily as disputing criticism
\nthat he only took action against lower echelon prosecutors while
\nallowing higher-ranking ones to break the law.<\/p>\n
\"I don't need to name names, but as the leader of this office
\nI have taken stern action against senior prosecutors who have
\ncommitted violations,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He was also quoted as saying that his office had saved the
\nstate about Rp 160 billion (US$66.6 million). Some of this came
\nfrom the confiscation of property in corruption cases. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-rejects-pakpahan-request-for-foreign-cure-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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