Dutchman denies trafficking Ecstasy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A 51-year-old Dutch businessman standing trial
\non charges of producing and selling Ecstasy pills yesterday
\nrefuted the testimonies of two witnesses that he was caught red-
\nhanded selling the pills to.<\/p>\n
\"I was not selling the pills. I was only exhibiting the
\npills,\" the defendant, identified only as LHK, told the Central
\nJakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
LHK, a consultant in a local cement company, is being tried on
\ncharges of producing and trafficking more than 5,000 Ecstasy
\npills. He was arrested with 498 Ecstasy pills in his possession
\non April 3, in the lobby of the President Hotel on Jl. MH
\nThamrin.<\/p>\n
Capt. Immanueal Larosa and 2nd Lieutenant Rakhmat, two police
\ndetectives who testified separately, said that they arrested the
\ndefendant on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 3.<\/p>\n
Both witnesses told the court, presided over by Judge
\nNurhayati, that they subsequently seized another 500 pills in the
\ndefendant's Kijang van which was parked across the street at the
\nGrand Hyatt hotel and 4,386 more pills at the defendant's office
\nat Pondok Anggrek, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The two witnesses said that it was the defendant who told them
\nwhere the pills were stored.<\/p>\n
They told the court that they arranged to arrest the Dutchman
\nafter they got a tip-off that there would be a bule (Westerner)
\nmaking an Ecstasy-pill transaction in the hotel lobby.<\/p>\n
However they failed to apprehend the man suspected of being
\nthe buyer.<\/p>\n
\"I was afraid the defendant would run away if I went after the
\nbuyer first,\" said Second Lt. Rakhmat, when he answered Judge
\nNurhayati's question as to why he did not arrest the alleged
\nbuyer identified as Ho.<\/p>\n
But the defendant denied Rakhmat's testimony saying that the
\nwitnesses just let Ho walk away and arrested him instead.<\/p>\n
When pressed by the defendant's lawyer, Nazori Do'ak Achmad,
\nif Rakhmat saw any money when he made the arrest, the witness
\nsaid: \"No.\"<\/p>\n
In yesterday's cross-examination, no questions from the panel
\nof judges tried to prove the allegations that the defendant
\nproduced Ecstasy pills, as indicted by the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
The defendant was accused of violating the 1992 Law on Health,
\nmore specifically Article 80(4b) and 40(1) which prohibits the
\nproduction and distribution of drugs that are not registered with
\nthe Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n
If found guilty the defendant faces a maximum penalty of 15
\nyears imprisonment or a fine of Rp 300 million (US$130,000).<\/p>\n
The trial was adjourned until Sept. 9. (26)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dutchman-denies-trafficking-ecstasy-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }