Speculation rife over Nurdin Halid's health

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

The police's failure to satisfactorily explain the health condition of a legislator embroiled in a sugar smuggling scandal has led to speculation that the police, in league with doctors, are helping to protect him.

Lawyer Luhut M. Pangaribuan said on Sunday that questions about whether Nurdin Halid, a legislator and the chairman of the Confederation of Primary Cooperatives Association, was really sick put "the credibility of the police and medical profession on the line".

Nurdin was named a suspect last month in a case involving 73,000 tons of illegally imported sugar. After being questioned by police for over six hours, Nurdin complained that he was feeling ill and was taken to the hospital. Doctors at Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta concluded that the suspect was only tired.

However, police transferred Nurdin to the Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, "to undergo intensive treatment". Nurdin has been at the hospital for the past three weeks.

A representative of a group calling itself the Professionals of Civil Society said on Sunday, "The hospital is a very comfortable place for a suspect like Nurdin to hide and let his case wither away before disappearing entirely from public attention."

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday the police were only acting on the diagnosis of doctors treating Nurdin at the Police Hospital, but declined to elaborate on what their diagnosis was.

A former chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association, Ahmad Djojosugito, said on Sunday that because Nurdin's case had become a public affair the police should offer information about his health condition.

"If necessary the police could ask for a second opinion to check the validity of his current doctor's diagnosis. A second opinion is normal in the medical practice," Ahmad said.

However, he acknowledged that it was possible that Nurdin really was ill.

Luhut said the recent trend of suspects and convicts avoiding justice by claiming to be ill had shown "that this can happen only through cooperation with the police and doctors. If the trend continues, then the credibility of the medical professional will be called into question".

The most high-profile suspect to avoid a trial because of health reasons is former president Soeharto. A team of doctors confirmed the conclusion of Soeharto's medical team that the former president was unfit to stand trial for corruption.

A suspect in a corruption case at the National Logistics Agency, Beddu Amang, tried to avoid arrest by claiming to be ill and checking into a hospital. The public outrage was so great, however, that Beddu, who is alleged to have misused about Rp 800 billion in state funds, was arrested at the hospital.

Samadikun Hartono, who was convicted of misusing trillions of rupiah in Bank Indonesia liquidity support funds, was allowed to leave the country after claiming that he needed medical treatment abroad. He has not returned to Indonesia since and is currently thought to be residing in Singapore.

Nurdin's lawyer Edison Petaubun insisted on Sunday that his client was ill and that the press was making too big a fuss over his health.

"Doctors and police have said that he is too ill to be questioned. Why do you guys keep questioning his condition?" Edison said.