Dutchman denies trafficking Ecstasy

JAKARTA (JP): A 51-year-old Dutch businessman standing trial on charges of producing and selling Ecstasy pills yesterday refuted the testimonies of two witnesses that he was caught red- handed selling the pills to.

"I was not selling the pills. I was only exhibiting the pills," the defendant, identified only as LHK, told the Central Jakarta District Court.

LHK, a consultant in a local cement company, is being tried on charges of producing and trafficking more than 5,000 Ecstasy pills. He was arrested with 498 Ecstasy pills in his possession on April 3, in the lobby of the President Hotel on Jl. MH Thamrin.

Capt. Immanueal Larosa and 2nd Lieutenant Rakhmat, two police detectives who testified separately, said that they arrested the defendant on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 3.

Both witnesses told the court, presided over by Judge Nurhayati, that they subsequently seized another 500 pills in the defendant's Kijang van which was parked across the street at the Grand Hyatt hotel and 4,386 more pills at the defendant's office at Pondok Anggrek, West Jakarta.

The two witnesses said that it was the defendant who told them where the pills were stored.

They told the court that they arranged to arrest the Dutchman after they got a tip-off that there would be a bule (Westerner) making an Ecstasy-pill transaction in the hotel lobby.

However they failed to apprehend the man suspected of being the buyer.

"I was afraid the defendant would run away if I went after the buyer first," said Second Lt. Rakhmat, when he answered Judge Nurhayati's question as to why he did not arrest the alleged buyer identified as Ho.

But the defendant denied Rakhmat's testimony saying that the witnesses just let Ho walk away and arrested him instead.

When pressed by the defendant's lawyer, Nazori Do'ak Achmad, if Rakhmat saw any money when he made the arrest, the witness said: "No."

In yesterday's cross-examination, no questions from the panel of judges tried to prove the allegations that the defendant produced Ecstasy pills, as indicted by the prosecutor.

The defendant was accused of violating the 1992 Law on Health, more specifically Article 80(4b) and 40(1) which prohibits the production and distribution of drugs that are not registered with the Ministry of Health.

If found guilty the defendant faces a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment or a fine of Rp 300 million (US$130,000).

The trial was adjourned until Sept. 9. (26)