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