Trial of sick Pakpahan to proceed

Trial of sick Pakpahan to proceed

JAKARTA (JP): The subversion trial of jailed labor leader
Muchtar Pakpahan will resume Thursday at the South Jakarta
District Court, his lawyer said yesterday.

Pakpahan's lawyer, Luthfie Hakim, said the hearing would last
no longer than three hours because of Pakpahan's poor health.

He said presiding Judge Djazuli P. Sudibyo had agreed to
holding only one hearing a week, rather than the usual two.

Pakpahan's case has been adjourned since March because of his
deteriorating health.

Pakpahan is the chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor
Union and is being treated at Central Jakarta's Cikini hospital
for a lung tumor and appendicitis.

Pakpahan has been seeking a lung image fluorescence endoscopy
(LIFE), a therapy unavailable in Indonesia, to treat his illness.
But a government medical team found that such treatment was
unnecessary.

Pakpahan wants an independent medical team to examine him
again to provide an alternative prognosis.

The labor leader is charged with subversion over a series of
antigovernment speeches he made last year which the prosecution
says sowed public hatred and undermined the government's
authority.

Pakpahan is already serving a four-year jail term after being
found guilty of inciting a labor riot in Medan, North Sumatra, in
1994.

Earlier this month, he filed for a review of the 1994 verdict
against him by presenting 11 witnesses to support his claim of
innocence.

The review is still being processed. (05)