Graft suspect gets sick

BANDUNG: Former West Java deputy governor Ukman Sutaryan has checked into hospital after apparently suffering a heart attack three days before the execution of a court decision which turned down his appeal in a Rp 27 billion (US$3 million) graft case.

Ukman checked into the Hasan Sadikin Hospital on Friday before the Bandung Prosecutor's Office executed the decision finding him guilty of stealing the money from the West Java provincial budget.

The court's decision was made three years after the case began, the first involving a former provincial government official.

Head of the fraud squad team at the prosecutor's office, Sukaryo, said he had received a copy of the latest court decision.

"We have contacted the penitentiary doctor to double check on Ukman's health status. We are now not sure whether he will be well enough to go back to jail," he said.

The hospital where Ukman was being treated on Monday would not reveal his condition. -- JP