Puteh ill, court adjourned

JAKARTA: Judges of the Anticorruption Court in Central Jakarta, who are trying suspended Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh for graft, adjourned the Wednesday session due to the defendant being sick.

Puteh is on trial for allegedly marking up the purchase price of a Russian-made MI-2 helicopter. He is being charged under the Anticorruption Law and could face a life-sentence or a Rp 1 billion (US$108,000) fine if found guilty.

Chief judge Kresna Menon said that Puteh would be given four days to rest, and ordered him to be taken to a doctor for medical treatment.

Puteh was looking pale and perspiring when he approached the bench to examine evidence presented by Puteh's lawyers and prosecutors. Wednesday's session was meant to question the defendant in order to check evidence presented to the court.

Linda Purnomo, Puteh's wife, said that her husband was suffering from asthma, which he inherited from his parents.

After the session, Yessi Esmeralda, one of the prosecutors, said that her team was not concerned that the delay would extend the session from its previously scheduled end on March 27.

"There's no problem, we'll finish the trial on time. We will meet the 90-day deadline because we only have a few sessions to go before the verdict is handed down," she said.

The next session will be held on Feb. 21 and will continue with the examination of evidence.--JP