Lawyers charged with forging documents<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
Tangerang Prosecutor's Office chief Himawan Kaskawa said on
\nThursday that a team of five lawyers representing three Africans
\nbeing tried by the Tangerang District Court for possessing 5.6
\nkilograms of heroin had forged documents to free the defendants
\nfrom the charges they were facing.<\/p>\n
He said that shortly after the court released the defendants,
\nZimbabwean Kholison Nkomo and two Nigerians, Michael Titus Igweh
\nand Hillary Chimezie, the prosecutor's office sent a letter to
\nthe Directorate General of Immigration requesting clarification
\nover the identity of defendant Kholison Nkomo, who denied before
\nthe court that he was Kholison Nkomo as named in the indictment.<\/p>\n
In a pretrial ruling on Feb. 5, the Tangerang District
\nCourt ordered the release of the defendants on the grounds that
\nthe prosecution charges were inaccurate.<\/p>\n
The defendants were arrested in August 2002 for possessing
\ndrugs at a house in the Villa Melati Mas housing estate, Serpong.<\/p>\n
When the trial began, the defendant Kholison Nkomo claimed he
\nwas actually Izuchwu Iberu Okolwaja from Nigeria.<\/p>\n
A panel of judges presided over by Judge Permadi then ordered
\nthe lawyers to present evidence backing up the defendant's claim.<\/p>\n
A team of five lawyers comprising Henri P. Siahaan, Rinawati
\nSitumorang, Meliana Butar Butar, Bilher Situmorang and Peter
\nTarigan then managed to prove that Okolwaja was not Nkomo by
\npresenting his passport and tax documents.<\/p>\n
"In response to our query, the director general of immigration
\nstated that Okolwaja's passport was fake," Kaskawa said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
He said he could not understand why the court would so easily
\naccept fake documents from the defendant's lawyers and acquit the
\ndefendants of all charges.<\/p>\n
But as soon as the defendants were released from Tangerang
\nPenitentiary, the police rearrested them and brought them to city
\npolice headquarters to face charges of document forgery.
\nDefendant Nkomo, who was believed to have AIDS, died in the
\nPolice Kramat Jati Hospital on Sunday morning.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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