Councillor jailed for drugs

Councillor jailed for drugs

SEMARANG: Sudiharto Saka, a councillor with the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), was sentenced on
Tuesday to five months and 15 days in prison in a drugs case.

The Semarang District Court also fined him Rp 500,000 (US$58),
to be substituted for by two months imprisonment if he failed to
pay.

Prosecutors had sought 11 months in jail and a Rp 1 million
fine for the defendant.

The judges said Saka, from Tegal regency in Central Java, had
been proven guilty of consuming an ecstasy pill in the Zodiak
Discotheque at the Hotel Karlita in the town last August.

A urine test by police investigators proved the drug charges
against him. Saka admitted to having bought the pill for Rp
100,000.

The judges said Saka had violated Article 60 of Law No. 5/1997
on drugs.

Among the compounding factors that had led to a heavier
sentence for Saka was the fact that the example he had set had
impeded the government's efforts to fight drug abuse, the court
added. --Antara