Brussels – Indonesia's detained labour leader, Muchtar Pakpahan has been admitted to a private hospital in Jakarta yesterday where he is being treated for vertigo. The admission comes after weeks of battles in and out of court to have him admitted to a private hospital and exmanied by his own doctor rather than government doctors at the Jakarta police hospital.
In a letter dated March 3, Pakpahan said that since the beginning of January 1997 he had been suffering from continued sharp pain in his right hand that has spread to the head, and frequent dizziness and colds followed by breathing problems. Pakpahan, chairman of Indonesia's independent trade union, SBSI, was arrested on July 29 and charged with subversion for his alleged involvement in the July 27 opposition demonstration during which thousands of pro-democracy activists protested against the violent police raid on the headquarters of the PDI, a legally-recognised opposition party.
His trial opened on December 12 and continues Thursday March 13 in the Jakarta District Court, although it is still unclear whether Pakpahan will be well enough to attend this Thursday's hearing.
In a letter addressed to the Indonesian Minister of Justice, Mr Oetovo Oesman, on February 28, the ICFTU had expressed strong concern over Pakpahan's deteriorating health. The ICFTU told Mr Oesman that Pakpahan suffered various heart ailments as a result of earlier detention and that the Minister would be held responsible should Mr Pakpahan fail to receive the proper medical treatment.
The battle for medical treatment and Presiding Judge's resistance to have Pakpahan properly examined is only one of the many flaws of the present subversion trial.
Last month the ICFTU took the unprecedented step of referring the case to the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, citing attacks on defence lawyers, threats against witnesses, repeated changes in charges, and the reversal of a Supreme Court decision quashing an earlier sentence, as proofs that the charges were fabricated and that Pakpahan was being prosecuted for his legitimate trade union activities. The Special Rapporteur was asked by the ICFTU to investigate the charges and report to the UN Commission on Human Rights the annual session of which opens today in Geneva.