Soeharto still too sick for trial

Soeharto still too sick for trial

JAKARTA: Former president Soeharto is still too ill to face
trial on corruption charges involving hundreds of millions of
dollars, Attorney General M.A. Rachman said on Monday.

"We have obtained a second opinion, conducted medical
examinations by other doctors and the results remain the same ...
therefore, the trial cannot proceed as long as his health does
not improved," Rachman said.

Soeharto, 82, was accused of embezzling US$571 million in
state funds during his 32-year rule, which ended in May 1998,
when he stepped down under the great pressure of the reform
movement.

His trial, however, has been postponed indefinitely on the
grounds of his poor health.

Soeharto, who has suffered several minor strokes and other
health problems, has largely stayed at his home in the upmarket
Jakarta suburb of Menteng since stepping down.

Among his rare trips was a visit to his wife's grave in Solo,
Central Java, last year and a brief visit in May to his son
Tommy, who is serving a 15-year jail sentence for murder at an
island prison.

Soeharto's family and associates amassed billions of dollars
through lucrative monopolies or outright corruption during his
rule.

A 1999 investigation by Time magazine found that he and his
six children still had assets at that time conservatively
estimated at $15 billion. -- AFP