SBSI chief collapses during court hearing<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Muchtar Pakpahan, the chairman of the rebel
\nIndonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), collapsed during a
\ncourt hearing in Medan yesterday as he was reading his defense
\nagainst charges of inciting workers to violence last April.<\/p>\n
"He may have been so tired that he passed out," said David
\nPella, an SBSI official, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.<\/p>\n
The second hearing yesterday was due to hear Muchtar
\npresenting his defense. He collapsed only minutes after the
\nsession got underway, David said.<\/p>\n
He was immediately rushed to a hospital in the city, David
\nsaid. He did not have any knowledge of the cause.<\/p>\n
Friends recalled that Muchtar also looked pale when he was
\narraigned before the court on Monday.<\/p>\n
The hearing was adjourned indefinitely pending the health news
\nof the defendant, David said.<\/p>\n
The government has blamed SBSI for the workers riot in April
\nwhich left one businessman dead and dozens of factories damaged.
\nProsecutors said Muchtar was in Medan several times in the run up
\nto the riot to organize the workers' protest march.<\/p>\n
Muchtar, himself a lawyer by training, was in Semarang,
\nCentral Java, when the riots broke out. For the trial he is being
\ndefended by no fewer than 19 lawyers. (rms)<\/p>",
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