Detained actress Ratna hospitalized

Detained actress Ratna hospitalized

JAKARTA (JP): Actress Ratna Sarumpaet, who stands accused of
holding an illegal political meeting and is being held in custody
at the Jakarta Police Headquarters, was rushed to hospital on
Tuesday night with acute back pains, her relatives said
yesterday.

Ratna was rushed to Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC) on Jl.
H.R. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, at 9 p.m., after complaining she
was unable to move her body, Ratna's son Muhammad Iqbal said.

"My mother has suffered back pain for almost two years. She
used to be treated here," Iqbal told The Jakarta Post from the
hospital.

He said Ratna was undergoing physiotherapy and her condition
was improving.

Her lawyer, Johnson Panjaitan, said earlier that Ratna's
illness had recurred because of the poor conditions in her
holding cell.

Ratna rejected the authorities' offer of admission to the
Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, because she
considered the conditions there to be substandard, Johnson added.

Police turned down a request from her lawyers' that she be
placed under house arrest. Her relatives plan to appeal against
the decision.

Ratna was among nine people arrested in a hotel in Ancol,
North Jakarta, at the so-called Indonesian People's Summit on
March 11.

Ratna and five others -- her daughter Fathom Saulina, reporter
Ging Ginanjar, lawyer Alexius Surya Tjahaya Tomu, activist
Nandang Wirakusumah, and art worker Jul Taher -- are still in
police custody.

The six detainees all filed lawsuits against North Jakarta
Police Chief Lt. Col. Rismawan and Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen.
Hamami Nata over their arrest and detention, which they said was
illegal. North Jakarta District Court rejected their allegations.

The case against them is scheduled to be heard by the same
court next week. (jun)