Doctors to be quizzed over report on Gus Dur's health
Doctors to be quizzed over report on Gus Dur's health
JAKARTA (JP): National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro said
on Wednesday that four doctors would soon undergo a preliminary
police investigation in respect of their determination that
President Abdurrahman Wahid was physically and psychologically
unfit to lead the country.
"I have instructed the National Police chief of detectives,
Insp. Gen. Engkesman Hillep, to conduct a preliminary
investigation into the matter and the doctors concerned,"
Bimantoro told reporters on Wednesday.
He added that the police needed to ascertain whether the
report, which was submitted to the House of Representatives
(DPR), could be classified as a criminal act.
"I would like to remind the general public that this is a
country that upholds the supremacy of law, not a country where
anything goes. The police will investigate this case in
accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations," Bimantoro
said.
Earlier in the day Bimantoro met the President, who said
before thousands of Muslims participating in a mass prayer in
Ciawi, West Java on Sunday, that he would allow the law
enforcement authorities to prosecute the four doctors.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi identified
the four doctors as neurologist Soeharko Kasran, psychiatrist
Suryanto, eye specialist Rahman R. Syaman and general
practitioner Hadi Witarto.
"The National Police are scheduled to summon the four doctors
soon. We need to know how qualified they are as doctors to make
the assessment that they made. The police also need to
investigate the motives behind the conclusion the doctors arrived
at," Didi told reporters on Wednesday.
Didi added that the police would also investigate the validity
of the medical reports and documents that lead them to the
conclusion that Abdurrahman was physically and psychologically
unfit to lead the country.
Abdurrahman, who has impaired vision and previously suffered
two strokes, canceled for undisclosed reasons a routine medical
examination that was to have been conducted last Saturday. His
medical team, however, said that the President was in good shape.
The President also skipped last Friday's prayers at the
Baiturrahim Mosque in the grounds of the presidential palace. His
absence quickly sparked speculation that he was ill.
Head of the presidential medical team, Umar Wahid, quickly
denied the rumors of illness, saying that the President was
preparing for the medical checkup which, as it transpired, he
later missed on Saturday. (ylt)