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.