RI sailor in coma in Italy

ITALY: A 45-year-old Indonesian sailor, Hadilah, has been under intensive care at San Camillo Hospital in Rome, Italy, since July after he was allegedly beaten aboard a Belize- registered ship on which he worked as a crewmember.

A spokesman from the Indonesian Embassy in Rome, Al Busyra Basnur, said on Friday that the embassy and Italian police had worked closely to investigate the case.

Basnur said the Indonesian sailor had been in a coma since he was handed over to the Italian port authority by the crew of the Saturn before the latter fled the port.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Ambassador to Italy Freddy Numberi said the embassy had worked with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to find Hadilah's family in Indonesia. However, there was no clue yet about his Indonesian family.

Hadilah possesses a passport issued in Jakarta in July 2001 and a sailor document issued in Tanjung Priok, Jakarta on January 17, 2002.

"Based on the doctor's information, Hadilah may recover after more than one year of treatment," Numberi said. -- Antara