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)