Adiguna 'too sick' to stand trial
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Businessman Adiguna Sutowo, 46, may be absent from his own murder trial, with his doctors claiming he was too frail to attend Thursday's hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court.
An internist at the Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta, Adji Suprayitno, who has been treating Adiguna for asthma since Monday evening, told the court that his patient's condition "had improved, but was unstable".
"When he came in, he was experiencing difficulty in breathing and couldn't perform even the lightest physical activity," said Adji, adding that Adiguna was being given medication intravenously. "Now, with the assistance of his family members, he can walk slowly."
Adji told the three-strong panel of judges that based on a physical examination, laboratory tests and x-rays, doctors had diagnosed Adiguna as having an "infection-triggered asthma", causing his airways to become inflamed and narrow.
"He still needs treatment," Adji said, adding that Adiguna has a history of asthma.
Presiding judge Lilik Mulyadi and panel members Agus Subroto and Mulyani decided to allow Adiguna to be hospitalized.
However, they instructed prosecutors to bring the defendant into court on Tuesday "no matter what his condition is," to hear the court's decision on whether to proceed the trial, which was initially scheduled for Thursday.
After the session, a lawyer from Adiguna's 10-member defense team, Mohammad Shalahuddin, said that the judges' decision was harsh, in light of the fact that the defense and prosecutors had agreed to hear the decision with or without Adiguna's presence.
"The defense wants a speedy trial too," said Shalahuddin, stressing that Adiguna was "really ill".
After the trial, Lilik Mulyadi said that the decision to force Adiguna to attend on Tuesday was made so that the public would not become cynical towards the proceedings.
"Our decision is final. We don't want the public to feel that justice is not being served," said Lilik.
Hendrik Jehaman, a lawyer representing the family of the victim, 25-year-old college student Yohannes "Rudy" Berchmans Haerudy Natong, said that the decision was fair, but expressed suspicion as to why Adiguna was being treated at Pertamina Hospital.
"Everyone knows that the hospital was built by his family," said Hendrik.
Adiguna is the youngest son of Ibnu Sutowo, who was for 19 years head of state-run oil and gas company Pertamina and was a close friend of former president Soeharto.
Adiguna is being treated at the hospital's presidential suite, priced at Rp 1.5 million per day.
Prosecutors allege that Adiguna murdered Rudy, a trainee waiter at the Fluid Club in Central Jakarta, after being told that he could not use his debit card to settle a Rp 150,000 bar bill on New Year's day.
Prosecutors say that Adiguna used an unlicensed gun to shoot Rudy in the head at close range at the club located in the five- star Hilton Hotel, whose major shareholder is Adiguna's brother, Ponco Sutowo.
Possession of an illegal firearm is punishable by a life sentence, while an act of malicious, but not premeditated murder carries a maximum jail sentence of 15 years.