Soeharto trial may be delayed indefinitely
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An announcement by doctors that former president Soeharto is still unable to communicate properly will likely further delay his prosecution, which has already been postponed for two years.
"His physical condition is good but his language ability is poor," Dr. Akhmal Taher, who led an independent team of 20 doctors from the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Soeharto's examination, told a media conference on Monday.
He said that Soeharto suffered from aphasia, the total or partial loss of the ability to use and understand words.
"The patient is incapable of putting more than four words together and could not understand long sentences," Dr. Akhmal said, referring to the 81-year-old father of convict Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.
Soeharto, he said, could also read slowly but had difficulty understanding complex sentences.
He claimed Soeharto had suffered "permanent brain damage due to his previous medical history of strokes", which limited his ability to communicate with others. Soeharto suffered two minor strokes after resigning the presidency in 1998.
However, he acknowledged Soeharto was currently in a stable condition. He has been fitted with a pacemaker.
"We aren't making any recommendations to the prosecutors; we simply revealed our findings," Dr. Akhmal said.
Prosecutors requested the team examine Soeharto following media reports that he was seen walking unaided and chatting with guests at his granddaughter's wedding reception in Jakarta in May.
During a media conference on Monday, prosecutor Y.W. Mere indicated that Soeharto would not be brought before the court due to his state of health.
"A defendant must be able to communicate and understand (questions) to defend himself," Mere said.
Soeharto stands accused of misappropriating some US$ 571 million from the state through a number of charities during his presidency. Corruption was common in Indonesia during his 32- year in power.
Many said that the economic crisis that hit the country in 1997 was partly due to rampant corruption here.
Soeharto avoided his first trial at the South Jakarta District Court in September, 2000, for health reasons. In the same year, a team of doctors established by the government declared him physically and mentally unfit to stand trial for corruption.
In 2001, he also underwent a medical examination at the orders of the Attorney General's Office after the Supreme Court ordered the office to give him medical treatment at the state's expense so that he could be tried.