Speculation rife over Nurdin's health

Speculation rife over Nurdin'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.