Dutch defendant may get six years for drug deals
JAKARTA (JP): A state prosecutor has asked the Central Jakarta District Court to sentence Dutch national Christian van den Bosch, who is being tried on drug trafficking charges, to six years imprisonment.
Prosecutor Suriansjah told the district court on Saturday that the defendant was subject to punishment under Criminal Law No. 23/1992 for selling dangerous drugs.
The act stipulates in Article 81, Paragraph 2, that if found guilty, any accused person can face up to a maximum of seven year's imprisonment and/or a fine of Rp 140 million (more than US$64,750).
The 27-year old defendant, along with three accomplices, including another Dutchman, was arrested by police on Feb. 6 at the Borobudur Hotel, Central Jakarta, during an attempted sale of "Eva" pills containing "derivate amphetamine" which is listed as a dangerous drug.
In his sentence request, Suriansjah said that based on witnesses' testimony and physical evidence collected there should be no doubt about the involvement of the defendant in the crime.
The defendant has visited Indonesia six times in just over a year, with the first trip being in October 1992. He arrived in January 1994 on his last visit.
Based on police questioning it was revealed that the defendant bought the pills in the Netherlands for a woman named Nova, whom he met at the Tanamoor discotheque in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, in 1993.
The defendant promised to supply the pills to Nova at a price of Rp 80,000 each.
After making the tentative deal with Nova, the defendant reportedly returned to the Netherlands. According to police reports, he admitted to sending packages containing the Eva pills to Nova under the address of Steven J. Bryner, a security officer at the American embassy here in Jakarta.
Last January the defendant returned to Jakarta with the intent of giving the pills to Nova. On Feb. 5 he was contacted by Irsan, an Indonesian who said he was to conduct the transaction for Nova at the Borobudur Hotel the next night.
It was during that next night at the Lobby Coffee shop of the hotel that the defendant was arrested along with Steven Bryner, Peter Karajin, both Americans, Leonard Jacobus, alias Levi, the other Dutch national, and Irsan.
Bryner and Karajin were both American embassy personnel here in Jakarta. They have been extradited for trial in the U.S. territory of Guam under diplomatic immunity.
Jacobus, the Dutchman who is accused of making the actual transaction with Irsan in the coffee shop's toilet, while the others waited outside, is being tried separately at the Central Jakarta District Court.
Informant
According to the head of the arresting police unit, Maj. Charles Marpaung, he had been told of the impending transaction by an anonymous informant the night before the bust.
He also explained that in a subsequent search of Bryner's residence at Jl. Cikatomas I, No. 31, South Jakarta, an additional 7,500 pills were found.
Charles added that it was during this search that Irsan, who was brought along to facilitate the investigation, managed to escape. He remains at large.
During the course of the two-month long trial, the defendant has withdrawn the statements he made during questioning, saying that they were made under duress. The defendant claims he was taken to a building, which he could not identify, and threatened with a 15-year jail sentence unless he cooperated, before being taken to the police station.
The defendant has pleaded his innocence, saying the drugs belonged to Steven Bryner.
Bryner has submitted written testimony stating that he learned of the drugs from the defendant.
Several months before the arrest, both the defendant and Jacobus had taken up residence at Bryner's house.
Peter Karajin said in written testimony he was not aware of the whole affair and was at the Borobudur Hotel only to accompany friends.
Jacobus, a Dutch citizen of Ambonese descent, maintains that the 162 Eva pills found in his possession during his arrest were for his own personal use.
He says that he went to the hotel toilet to consume the pills for himself and that unknowingly he was followed by Irsan who then asked him if he could buy some pills.
A clause in the Indonesian drug law, Stbld. No. 419/1949 Article 1, allows the possession of dangerous drugs as long as they are for personal medical needs.
Prosecutor Suriansjah has blasted any attempt by either the defendant or Jacobus to hide behind this law.
"With 7,500 pills? It is quite obvious that such a large number of pills was not for personal use, but for sale and distribution," he said.
The trial, presided over by Judge Djamil Sularso, was adjourned until July 13, when Christian van den Bosch's lawyer, Azis Affandi, will present his client's final defense statement. (mds)