Pakpahan seeks independent team for opinion on his health

Pakpahan seeks independent team for opinion on his health

JAKARTA (JP): Jailed labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan demanded
yesterday that the government form an independent medical team to
seek another opinion after his request to get treatment abroad
had been turned down.

His lawyer, Lawyer Bambang Widjojanto, said the team should
involve the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as an
independent party.

Bambang said the Criminal Code Procedure did not mention when
or where a detainee could seek medical treatment.

Based on a second opinion from a team of doctors from the
Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, the government turned down
Tuesday Pakpahan's request for medical treatment abroad.

Attorney General Singgih said the government-established team
had concluded that Pakpahan did not need to go abroad for medical
treatment because his illness could be handled by local doctors.

Pakpahan, chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union,
was admitted to Cikini private hospital in Central Jakarta in
March, four days after he yelled at a South Jakarta District
Court judge for ignoring his deteriorating health.

The union's secretary-general, Sunarti, said that Pakpahan was
suffering a lung tumor, a blood clot on the brain and
appendicitis.

Cikini Hospital doctors recommended a lung imagy fluorescence
endoscopy (LIFE). This treatment is unavailable in Indonesia.

Pakpahan, who was convicted over a labor riot in Medan in
1994, is being tried by the South Jakarta District Court on
charges of subversion over a series of antigovernment speeches he
gave last year.

The hearing has been adjourned since March because of his
deteriorating health.

Sunarti told The Jakarta Post that an ICRC member had said the
committee could meet Pakpahan's request with the government's
permission.

National Commission on Human Rights member Muladi said
yesterday in the Central Java capital of Semarang that Pakpahan's
request could be politically motivated.

"I believe there are certain parties who would do anything to
have Pakpahan treated abroad. In this respect, the attorney
general's refusal to let him go is understandable," he said.

Muladi said Pakpahan could be treated abroad if his illness
was very serious and Indonesian doctors could not treat him.

"I believe that Pakpahan's illness can be cured here," he
said. (05/har)