The health of the Indonesian ex-dictator Suharto improved yesterday, a day after he suffered multiple organ failure, as the government said it wanted to settle a graft case against him out of court.
The 86-year-old former president, who stepped down a decade ago after 32 years of often brutal rule in the world's fourth most populous nation, was admitted to hospital on Jan. 4 with heart, kidney and lung problems.
His condition has since fluctuated before dramatically worsening on Friday evening, when he was connected to a ventilator to stay alive.
PHOTO: AP
But Marjo Soebiandono, one of the doctors in the large team of experts assembled to treat Suharto, said that as of 8am yesterday, the patient's general condition was "better" and that he had regained consciousness.
"When I asked him whether it hurt, he shook his head," he said, adding however that he showed signs of infection in his lungs and his hemoglobin levels were falling.
"The team of doctors will continue to make intensive efforts to improve his general condition by giving blood transfusions, medication for his lung infection and balancing the liquids in his body," he said at a briefing.
Meanwhile, the attorney general announced that the government wanted to settle a pending civil corruption case against Suharto -- who is accused of massive graft while in power -- with his family out of court.
"We have offered a deal to Suharto's family ... that the civil case will be settled out of the court," Attorney General Hendarman Supanji said, adding that the family, represented by Suharto's eldest daughter Tutut, would decide as soon as possible.
He said he had been ordered by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to make the approach. Under Indonesian law, if a defendant dies during such a civil suit, his or her family must instead defend the case.
A criminal case against Suharto was abandoned in 2006 due to his persistent poor health but the civil suit, launched last year, was seeking US$1.4 billion in damages and returned stolen assets skimmed off the foundation.
Suharto's allies called earlier in the week for the case to be abandoned but they were rebuffed by the attorney general.
Suharto has been called the 20th century's worst kleptocrats but has rejected allegations that he and his family were sitting on a fortune of between US$15 billion and US$35 billion.
Investigations into several other charitable foundations that Suharto chaired have been ongoing. It was not clear whether these would continue.
Yudhoyono himself rushed back to the country yesterday from Malaysia, where he cut short an official visit by several hours.
The president was briefed at Halim airbase on his return by a member of the team of doctors who treated Suharto, Christian Johannes, a news agency reported.
Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla went to Suharto's side on Friday, joining the ex-strongman's six children and his extended family. In Yudhoyono's absence, Kalla would have been authorized to announce his death, according to protocol.
In Central Java's Solo, where Suharto's family graves lie, identification cards have reportedly been prepared for the media to cover his eventual funeral.
"This is just in anticipation ... because we see what conditions are like," said the district military command's spokesman, Baso Syukri, according to online news portal Detikcom.
TV showed footage of soldiers and workers scurrying to ready the area surrounding the grave.
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
RIGHTS FEARS: A protester said Beijing would use the embassy to catch and send Hong Kongers to China, while a lawmaker said Chinese agents had threatened Britons Hundreds of demonstrators on Saturday protested at a site earmarked for Beijing’s controversial new embassy in London over human rights and security concerns. The new embassy — if approved by the British government — would be the “biggest Chinese embassy in Europe,” one lawmaker said earlier. Protester Iona Boswell, a 40-year-old social worker, said there was “no need for a mega embassy here” and that she believed it would be used to facilitate the “harassment of dissidents.” China has for several years been trying to relocate its embassy, currently in the British capital’s upmarket Marylebone district, to the sprawling historic site in the
The administration of US President Donald Trump has appointed to serve as the top public diplomacy official a former speech writer for Trump with a history of doubts over US foreign policy toward Taiwan and inflammatory comments on women and minorities, at one point saying that "competent white men must be in charge." Darren Beattie has been named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a senior US Department of State official said, a role that determines the tone of the US' public messaging in the world. Beattie requires US Senate confirmation to serve on a permanent basis. "Thanks to
‘IMPOSSIBLE’: The authors of the study, which was published in an environment journal, said that the findings appeared grim, but that honesty is necessary for change Holding long-term global warming to 2°C — the fallback target of the Paris climate accord — is now “impossible,” according to a new analysis published by leading scientists. Led by renowned climatologist James Hansen, the paper appears in the journal Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development and concludes that Earth’s climate is more sensitive to rising greenhouse gas emissions than previously thought. Compounding the crisis, Hansen and colleagues argued, is a recent decline in sunlight-blocking aerosol pollution from the shipping industry, which had been mitigating some of the warming. An ambitious climate change scenario outlined by the UN’s climate