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.