Ari Sigit hospitalized

JAKARTA (JP): The detained grandchild of former president Soeharto, Ari Haryo Wibowo or Ari Sigit, was admitted to Kramat Jati Police Hospital in East Jakarta after complaining of breathing difficulties, an officer said on Friday.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said Ari, who has been under police detention since Aug. 14, for bullet possession, was identified as having spots on his lungs after a chest X-ray.

When contacted by The Jakarta Post, Anton could not give details on the possible disease suffered by Ari and how long he would be in the hospital.

"Ari needs intensive treatment but I have not yet been informed about his disease," he said.

Ari has repeatedly told reporters that police have wrongly arrested him for bullet possession, saying that they should have convicted him for consuming drugs as "they know I take drugs."

He was detained after police searched his house on Jl. Rasamala in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Aug. 14, in the search for his fugitive uncle Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. (emf)