Soeharto fails to attend his trial

JAKARTA (JP): Medical reports on former president Soeharto convinced judges of the South Jakarta District Court to adjourn his trial on charges of corruption until Sept. 14.

Soeharto's lawyers had repeatedly claimed that their client was unfit to attend the initial hearing on Thursday.

"The judges need to hear testimonies of the defendant's private medical team and the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital team which examined the defendant," presiding judge Lalu Mariyun told the court in the Ministry of Agriculture's auditorium in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.

"The doctors must give the next hearing a detailed description, using layman's terms, about the illnesses suffered by the defendant. The trial is adjourned until Sept. 14."

To the dismay of hundreds of locals, the defendant's absence on Thursday was followed by the handing over of medical reports on his condition to the court.

Defense lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon said his 79-year-old client, who has suffered three strokes in the past, had a deplorable health bill.

"He could suffer a fourth stroke, due to reasons ranging from age, hypertension, heart problems, kidney failure, kidney stones to diabetes, and other illnesses," Juan told the hearing, quoting official medical report No. 03/TDHMS/VIII/2000.

The report was issued by Soeharto's private medical team and signed on Thursday by the team's chief, Teguh A.S. Ranakusuma.

In response, head of the eight-member team of prosecutors, Muchtar Arifin, demanded that the judges pick an independent team of doctors to reexamine the defendant as soon as possible.

Another of the defendant's lawyers, Muhammad Assegaf, however responded that the Attorney General's Office had appointed a team of independent doctors in March from Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, which had stated that the former president "was suffering from both physical and mental illnesses".

Juan added that the judges should instead call upon the medical teams that examined the defendant to find out the extent of the defendant's ill health.

The judges accepted the defense lawyers' plea.

After the hearing, Assegaf told reporters that he was sure Soeharto would not attend Sept. 14 hearing, since the court had decided to hear testimonies of only the medical teams.

Assegaf added that if Muchtar was desperate enough to pursue with the corruption charges without the defendant's presence in court, he could request the Supreme Court to issue a fatwa (decree) that would allow the South Jakarta District Court to go ahead with the trial in the defendant's absence.

The courtroom was filled with hundreds of locals from Lampung, East and Central Java who spent hours traveling to the capital by train to attend the trial. Also present were former judge and law expert Benjamin Mangkoedilaga, National Mandate Party (PAN) deputy chairman AM Fatwa and politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas, who spent one year in jail for insulting Soeharto in 1997.

Muhammad Nurdin Yohan, 47, a impoverished trader from Cipete, South Jakarta, said he wished one particular question could be asked of the defendant.

"In Soeharto's time, he spoke of the supremacy of the law. Today, he is finding reasons not to appear in court. Where is the supremacy of the law now?" Yohan asked.

Achmad Saiful, 62, a carpenter from Lampung, said all he wanted was to watch the law in Indonesia work for members of the public.

A 60-year-old woman, who refused to give her name, said that people should forgive Soeharto.

"He used to give so many donations to the place I worked at. He is a good man. Why should we disturb him?"

A different tune was aired by students who reacted angrily to Soeharto's failure to show up for the initial hearing.

"This is nonsense ... it's a sinetron (teleseries)," yelled one student, to the cheers of 200 protesters who had gathered outside the iron gates of the ministry building.

Signals of Soeharto's failure to attend the initial hearing were evident on Thursday morning when Juan remained silent after being asked about Soeharto's attendance at the former president's residence on Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta prior to his departure, along with Soeharto's other lawyers, to the trial venue at 8:30 a.m.

Contacted by phone, another defense lawyer, Denny Kailimang eventually admitted that doctors had declared Soeharto unfit for the trial. He did not elaborate.

Soeharto's absence at the initial hearing was denounced by People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) deputy speaker Matori Abdul Djalil.

"Soeharto's lawyers likely used the medical report as a tool to avoid the trial. People may assume that the report was concocted," Matori, also chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), said on Thursday.

Similarly, House of Representatives (DPR) deputy speaker A.M. Fatwa said Soeharto's medical report could have been contrived to avoid trial.

"Soeharto should first be presented in court. It's the court that should decide whether he is ill or not," Fatwa, also deputy chairman of the National Mandate Party, said.

He cited his personal experience in 1984 when he was tried on charges of subversion during the Soeharto regime.

"I did not eat for three days to make me unfit for the trial, which I believed was an engineered one," he said.

"But I was forcibly taken to the court for alleged involvement in the Tanjung Priok tragedy."

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman, however, said it was common for a defendant not to appear in court for the initial hearing.

"It's natural," Marzuki said before attending a Cabinet meeting at Bina Graha presidential office on Thursday.

Outside the venue several groups of student protesters staged anti-Soeharto rallies.

A minor incident took place when a woman in her 40s challenged the anti-Soeharto protesters to give a fair judgment on the former president, who she said should be respected for his services to the state during his 32-year reign.

Dozens of men surrounded the woman, slapped her face, called her names and threw dirt and mud at her.

Policemen came to the rescue of the woman, who was identified as Rosmawati Tanjung, and escorted her to an armored vehicle which was about to leave the scene. (ylt/bby/jun)