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)