Indonesia Government Officials Health

Ending months of speculation over whether former President Suharto is fit to be questioned about corruption allegations, Indonesia's attorney general said the ex-strongman would be interrogated next week. Suharto's lawyers have insisted that the 78-year-old ex-leader, who was hospitalized twice last year after suffering a stroke, is too sick to be interrogated. But Atty. Gen.

For Suharto, once the all-powerful ruler of Indonesia, life today is a tangle of medical tubes, criminal charges and political intrigue. Now 79, the former military dictator who ruled for 32 years lives quietly in seclusion in his Jakarta home as family members struggle to save his reputation and their own vast fortunes. Ailing and sometimes bedridden, Suharto is powerless to protest as police search his house--even his bedroom--looking for his youngest son, a fugitive.

In a major setback for Indonesia's democracy movement, a court ruled Thursday that former dictator Suharto is too ill to stand trial on corruption allegations and dismissed all charges against him. After hearing hours of testimony from an independent medical team, the panel of five judges concluded that the 79-year-old Suharto had suffered such extensive brain damage from a series of strokes that his trial could not go forward.

In a major setback for Indonesia's democracy movement, a court ruled Thursday that former dictator Suharto is too ill to stand trial on corruption allegations and dismissed all charges against him. After hearing hours of testimony from an independent medical team, the panel of five judges concluded that the 79-year-old Suharto had suffered such extensive brain damage from a series of strokes that his trial could not go forward.

For Suharto, once the all-powerful ruler of Indonesia, life today is a tangle of medical tubes, criminal charges and political intrigue. Now 79, the former military dictator who ruled for 32 years lives quietly in seclusion in his Jakarta home as family members struggle to save his reputation and their own vast fortunes. Ailing and sometimes bedridden, Suharto is powerless to protest as police search his house--even his bedroom--looking for his youngest son, a fugitive.

Ending months of speculation over whether former President Suharto is fit to be questioned about corruption allegations, Indonesia's attorney general said the ex-strongman would be interrogated next week. Suharto's lawyers have insisted that the 78-year-old ex-leader, who was hospitalized twice last year after suffering a stroke, is too sick to be interrogated. But Atty. Gen.