Doctors, prosecutors differ on status, Soeharto thrives

Doctors, prosecutors differ on status, Soeharto thrives

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) claimed on Wednesday that it
had ordered another medical examination for former president
Soeharto in a bid to reactivate the prosecution case against him
on corruption charges.

Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Sudhono Iswahyudi
said, "On Dec. 15, we asked the (South Jakarta) prosecutor's
office to send a team of doctors to examine HMS again," he said,
referring to Soeharto. He added that the job had been assigned to
doctors from the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM).

Despite an earlier medical report suggesting that Soeharto was
unlikely to regain his full faculties, Sudhono said that the move
had been taken in the light of media reports saying that Soeharto
was actually in good health.

However, to the surprise of many, he then claimed the Attorney
General's Office lacked the money to pay for Soeharto's medical
examination, which he predicted could reach Rp 200 million.

Despite Sudhono's statement, RSCM director Merdias Almatsier
told The Jakarta Post that the hospital management had so far
only received a letter from the prosecutors asking about
developments regarding the former president's health.

"Of course, we don't know anything about it as we're not
responsible for monitoring his health. He has his own team of
physicians," he said.

According to Merdias, his subordinates has told prosecutors
that the RSCM has no records on Soeharto's recent health, but
added they would examine him if directed to.

Juan Felix Tampubolon, Soeharto's lawyer, questioned the
prosecutors move to reassess his client's health.

"Earlier examinations showed that my client suffered permanent
brain damage. Don't they have other things to do?" he asked,
adding that all the prosecutors had to do was check his client's
medical records.

In August 2002, a team of 20 physicians from the RSCM declared
that Soeharto was suffering from aphasia -- the total or partial
loss of the ability to use and understand words.

Akmal Taher, the team leader, said that Soeharto was incapable
of putting more than four words together and could not understand
long sentences as he had suffered "permanent brain damage due to
his previous medical history of strokes", which limited his
ability to communicate with others.

However, Soeharto has twice visited his youngest son, Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra, who is serving a 15-year jail term on the
Nusakambangan prison island off Java for ordering the murder of a
Supreme Court justice,

Recently, R. Hartono, a retired general who leads the Concern
for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), disclosed that Soeharto,
when consulted, had made suggestions regarding the name of the
party. He had also remarked on the party's nomination of his
daughter, Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana, as its candidate in
the presidential election.

Prosecutors accuse Soeharto of enriching himself and his
relatives to the tune of US$600 million in state funds plundered
through a complex web of tax-free charitable foundations that he
controlled.

His high-profile team of lawyers managed to convince the court
that their client was too ill to stand trial. The Supreme Court
has ruled that prosecutors may bring the case back to court if
his health improves.