TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - ZULHENDRI Hasan was stunned to see Golkar General Chairman Setya Novanto`s rapid recovery while undergoing treatment at the Premier Hospital in Jatinegara, East Jakarta. In just three days, Setya had regained his good health. "He improved significantly. Of course, we are grateful," said the Golkar deputy general treasurer last Wednesday.
Setya had been treated since September 18. Golkar's Central Leadership Board Chair Nurul Arifin said the House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker had experienced an 80-percent blocked artery and was treated in a special room at the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit on the fourth floor of the hospital near the Jatinegara Market. "He had to undergo surgery to insert a catheter and stent,¡± she said.
Read: KPK Investigators Visit Setya Novanto in Hospital Lawyer
Before going to Premier Hospital, Setya Novanto was treated at MRCCC Siloam Hospital in Semanggi, Central Jakarta. He went into in-patient care on September 10, one day before the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was to question him as a suspect in suspected corruption in the Rp5.9-trillion electronic ID card (e-KTP) project.
Golkar Party Secretary-General Idrus Marham offered conflicting information, saying that Setya was afflicted with vertigo and sinusitis. Zulhendri visited Setya because of the severity of the latter’s illness, first on September 26. When he arrived at 10am, a nurse directed him to the third floor.
On the third floor are an infant care room, an obstetrics ward, and a non-intensive care cardiac ward, where Setya had a number of cables attached to his body. "I don’t know what the cables were and didn’t ask," he said.
The cables can be seen in a widely circulated photograph. Social media users denounced and ridiculed the photo because the cables were not attached to any medical device nor any source of power. The photo was used in a great number of memes, which angered Setya Novanto, who then reported these memes to the police, who moved quickly to name one meme creator as a suspect.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
