Puteh rushed to hospital as first hearing nears

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the Anticorruption Court scheduled the first hearing for his graft case, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh was rushed to the hospital with an unspecified ailment in the wee hours of Wednesday.

His legal counsel, O.C. Kaligis, said Puteh was taken to the M.H. Thamrin hospital in Salemba, Central Jakarta, due to asthma.

However, Dr. Bob Jeffery Purba, the doctor who treated him, said that Puteh was not suffering a serious illness.

"He can still walk from a car to the hospital's emergency unit. He felt weak, but there is nothing serious," the doctor told reporters at the hospital.

While refusing to disclose his precise diagnose, Purba did say that Puteh did not need to stay in the hospital.

"I've given him medicine as well as a letter for his medical records," he said.

The doctor added that the hospital's emergency unit treats patients suffering both serious and common diseases such as influenza.

He also refused to say whether Puteh had asked to stay in the hospital for medication, but did say that prison guards refused to allow Puteh to stay in the hospital when he asked whether Puteh wanted a thorough medical examination.

Puteh was accompanied by his wife Linda Poernomo and three prison guards, Bob said.

Located near the Salemba Penitentiary, where Puteh has been held since Dec. 7, the M.H. Thamrin Hospital often treats prisoners or detainees.

High profile defendants in corruption cases in this country have often been successful in securing court permits to be released from detention due to illness.

A panel of judges at the Anticorruption Court has extended Puteh's detention for 30 days.

Meanwhile, the Central Jakarta District Court, which supervises the Anticorruption Court, announced on Wednesday that it had scheduled the first hearing of Puteh's case on Monday at the Uppindo building on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta.

Judge Ridwan Mansyur, who is also the spokesman of the court, said they had already made the necessary preparations for the hearing.

The court decided to use a spacious floor in the Uppindo building to accommodate observers and journalists.

Ridwan said the court is expected to deliver the verdict of the case within 90 days after the trial begins, in accordance with the law.

Puteh's case will be a test case, both for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Anticorruption Court, which is the first in the country, as well as the overall anticorruption campaign here.

Puteh is charged with Article 2 (1) 1 of Law No. 31/1999 on corruption eradication. The article carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail for graft.

The KPK has named Puteh a suspect for allegedly marking up the price of a Russian helicopter bought by the Aceh administration in 2001. The markups cost the state some Rp 4 billion (US$440,000).