Soeharto May be Retried in June: ProsecutorIndonesian former president Soeharto is not healthy enough to stand for a retrial now, but he could be well enough to face a court on charges of multi-million US dollar corruption by June, Prosecutor Muchtar Arifin said."Hopefully, if his healthy continues to improve, it is possible that in two to three months the trial can be held. But nothing is certain. So far he is still not fit enough to stand trial," Arifin was quoted by the Indonesian Observer Friday as saying. The team of doctors from the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) presented the Attorney General's Office with an evaluation of Soeharto's health, following more than a month of tests and observation. Arifin said Soeharto's health had improved since last month, when he was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy, and subsequently suffered urinary and respiratory complications. "That's his physical condition. But mentally, there's been no development," the prosecutor added. Head of the medical team Ichramsyah A. Rachman said Soeharto was able to take care of himself in a limited way. "Now he can eat, take a bath and pray unassisted, but his activities need close monitoring," he said. The medical report, however, revealed that Soeharto's cognitive problems remain, saying that he was very slow to speak and needed time to think before answering the doctors'questions. The Supreme Court recently upheld the South Jakarta District Court's decision to delay the prosecution of 79-year-old Soeharto, who has been charged in connection with a 571 million US dollars corruption case, and to release him from house arrest because of his ailing health. The court also ordered the Attorney General's Office to supervise his health care and cover his medical costs until he was declared fit for trial. |
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