Nurdin Halid fit for questioning, doctors say

Nurdin Halid fit for questioning, doctors say

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

A team of doctors treating graft suspect and Confederation of
Primary Cooperatives Association (Inkud) chairman Nurdin Halid
declared him healthy on Monday, but police have yet to schedule
his questioning.

Nurdin was rushed to the hospital just hours after police
declared him a suspect in the 73,000-ton illegal sugar scandal
involving Inkud more than three weeks.

Inkud has been accused of illegally importing a reported
73,000 tons of sugar from Thailand after it failed to meet its
import deadline in May.

Other suspects included Nurdin's brother Abdul Waris Halid,
Effendy Kemek, Andi Badar Saleh, Jack Tanim, Yan Mirdal and two
customs and excise civil servants.

National Police Deputy Chief of Detectives Insp. Gen. Dadang
Garnida said on Monday that the police had received a letter from
the Soekamto Police Hospital in East Jakarta saying that Nurdin
had fully recovered from his ailment.

"We have received a letter signed by Dr. Agus Mulyana
announcing that Nurdin doesn't need treatment anymore, and may
leave the hospital immediately," said Dadang.

He said the police would interrogate Nurdin soon but did not
give a specific timetable, saying that his investigators would
announce the schedule later.

After one session of police questioning for over six hours in
mid-July, Nurdin said he felt ill and was rushed to Pertamina
Hospital in South Jakarta. Doctors at Pertamina said that there
was nothing wrong with Nurdin and that he simply appeared tired.

Nevertheless, police transferred Nurdin to the Police Hospital
in Kramat Jati in East Jakarta "to undergo intensive medication"
where he had been confined for the past three weeks.

Police and doctors revealed almost no information about
Nurdin's condition during the three weeks, raising doubts over
their seriousness in investigating the scandal.

The failure of the police to satisfactorily explain the health
problems being experienced by Nurdin also led the public to
question whether the police and doctors at the Police Hospital
may have been cooperating to protect the suspect.

Noted lawyer Luhut M. Pangaribuan said on Sunday that
questions among the public about the nature of Nurdin's ailment
were being raised and "the credibility of the police and medical
profession was on the line."

Dadang said that the announcement proved that police would
merely follow whatever doctors said about Nurdin's health.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for PT Phoenix, which exported the sugar
from Thailand, said that she would send a warning letter to
University of Indonesia (UI) criminologist Adrianus Meliala for
suggesting that the company's president director Raja Benarje had
been declared a suspect in the fiasco.

"We will soon send him a warning letter. My client has never
been named a suspect from the beginning. The summons clearly
states that my client will be questioned as a witness. The police
have also recently clarified his status as a witness in the
case," said Elza Syarif.

National Police Chief of Detectives Suyitno Landung initially
said that Benarje was a suspect in the sugar scandal. Recently,
however, he changed his statement saying that police were still
examining his status.

Adrianus reportedly said that there was a strong indication
that Bernaje "approached the police" to change his status.