Pakpahan may have lung tumor

Pakpahan may have lung tumor

JAKARTA (JP): Jailed labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan,
hospitalized since March 1, said yesterday he might have a lung
tumor and would have to undergo further medical tests.

The chairman of the unrecognized Indonesian Prosperous Labor
Union said he was told by a member of his six-doctor medical team
only that he had a "lump" in his right lung.

"What else could it be, if not a tumor or a cancer, you name
it," he told The Jakarta Post in front of his room at the Cikini
Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Visibly ill, Pakpahan said that he also often felt pins and
needles along the right side of his body which he believed had
something to do with the lump had experienced bouts of vertigo.

"It has become worse since early January. I told the judge
over and over again (I needed medical treatment)," said Pakpahan,
who was accompanied by his wife.

He was referring to Judge Djazuli P. Sudibyo of the South
Jakarta District Court, who is presiding over Pakpahan's
subversion trial, for allegedly undermining the government. Over
the course of his detention and court sessions, Pakpahan
requested several times to be given leave for medical checkups.

Rather than granting the pleas, the judge accused Pakpahan of
seeking press attention.

According to Pakpahan, his doctors said "we only know it's a
lump" and that further tests were needed to determine whether it
was a tumor, and whether it was malignant or benign.

Pakpahan, currently serving a four-year prison term for
inciting a mass labor riot in Medan, North Sumatra, said it was
because of the suspected tumor that he often had respiratory
problems. The sentence came into effect in November last year.

Pakpahan was arrested at his East Jakarta home on July 30
following the government's crackdown on independent activists
accused of masterminding the July 27 riots in Jakarta which
caused the death of five people.

He has remained in detention since and is being tried for his
activities and statements allegedly undermining the government
and the military.

Both Pakpahan's conviction for the 1994 riots and his current
detention have led to international criticism, with Western
countries including the United States accusing Indonesia of
cracking down on the freedom of labor and democracy movements.
(aan)