No plan for autopsy on Lopa, says govt<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government announced on Wednesday that it
\nhad no plans to ask for an autopsy to be performed on the late
\nattorney general Baharuddin Lopa, who died in Saudi Arabia on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
The remarks arose as Lopa's untimely death came as he was
\nembarking on a thorough investigation on top-level figures,
\nprompting speculation of the causes of his demise.<\/p>\n
Emphasizing that doctors at Al-Hamadi Hospital in Riyadh
\ntreated Lopa during his three-day stay there, Minister of Defense
\nMahfud M.D. acknowledged there were a lot of suspicions behind
\nLopa's death due his hardline stance against corruptors.<\/p>\n
\"There are suspicions about the unseemly death of Pak Lopa but
\nI do not want to comment. There are people who say that to become
\nan attorney general must be unpleasant because of the threats one
\nis likely to receive,\" Mahfud replied, when asked about the
\ngovernment's possible autopsy plan.<\/p>\n
\"We have not considered (an autopsy), because we are also
\nstill not certain about the speculation,\" the minister added.<\/p>\n
According to Mahfud, Lopa and his predecessor Marzuki Darusman
\nrealized that their position was vulnerable to possible
\npoisoning, black magic practices or the leaking of information
\nfrom the Attorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
\"Like Pak Lopa, he never touched meals served there (the
\nAttorney General's Office), and preferred to eat food he brought
\nfrom home,\" said Mahfud.<\/p>\n
\"Similar complaints were also voiced by Marzuki Darusman, who
\nsaid he never discussed important matters at his office,\" said
\nMahfud.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman Wahid sent a team of presidential
\ndoctors to Riyadh who arrived there on Monday, two days after
\nLopa's admission to hospital.<\/p>\n
\"I regret that it was too late,\" Mahfud noted.<\/p>\n
Separately, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office,
\nMuljohardjo, disclosed that the Saudi Arabian government required
\nthe issuance of an official document from the hospital about the
\ncause of a patient's death.<\/p>\n
Lopa, the former Indonesian ambassador to Saudi Arabia for two
\nyears until February this year, was hospitalized after his
\narrival from Mecca, where he performed a minor haj pilgrimage. He
\ntraveled by car although the distance between the two cities is
\nabout 1,000 kilometers and he did not have enough time to rest.<\/p>\n
Doctors found clots in three blood vessels and planned an
\noperation on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a Garuda plane flew in Lopa's remains from Riyadh
\non Wednesday night after receiving a special permit to add its
\nroute to Riyadh from the original Jeddah- Jakarta flight.<\/p>\n
Lopa's body is expected to arrive at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on
\nThursday. However, there are differing versions about the arrival
\ntime.<\/p>\n
According to an official announcement at his private residence
\nin Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta, the body will arrive at the
\nairport at 11 a.m, and reach his home about 1 p.m.<\/p>\n
After being taken to the Attorney General's Office, Lopa will
\nbe buried at 4 p.m. at the National Heroes Cemetery in Kalibata,
\nSouth Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Lopa's spokesman Muljohardjo said, however, that Lopa's body
\nwould arrive at the airport at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman Wahid plans to welcome the body at the
\nairport and may lead Lopa's funeral ceremony in Kalibata.
\nMinister of Justice and Human Rights Marsilam Simanjuntak may
\nalso lead the ceremony if the President is not present at the
\ncemetery.<\/p>\n
The President plans to swear in Erman Radjagukguk as acting
\nCabinet secretary, replacing Marsilam on Thursday. It is still
\nnot clear whether he will also install acting Attorney General
\nSoeparman, who was promoted to the position on Monday, during the
\nsame occasion.<\/p>\n
\"The President has ordered Pak Lopa's burial in Kalibata,\"
\nSoeparman said, concerning the funeral venue.<\/p>\n
The President assigned Lopa to the post of attorney general on
\nJune 1. He served as minister of justice and human rights for
\nnearly four months from February, 2001.<\/p>\n
He once complained that his latest position as the Secretary-
\nGeneral of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham)
\nhad caused some unpleasant experiences during his term as
\nIndonesian ambassador to Saudi Arabia from February 1999 until
\nhis promotion to the Cabinet.<\/p>\n
Born on Aug. 27, 1935, Lopa spent much of his life as a
\nprosecutor. While serving as a senior official at the Ministry of
\nJustice from 1988 to 1995, he also used his official office as
\nthe office of Komnas HAM.<\/p>\n
Just two week before his death, during a hearing with the
\nHouse of Representatives on June 18, he disclosed several major
\ncorruption cases that he wanted to investigate concerning human
\nrights abuses in East Timor and several banking corruption cases.
\n(tso\/bby\/prb)<\/p>",
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