Ecstasy pilot a repeat offender, police chief says

Ecstasy pilot a repeat offender, police chief says

JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said
yesterday the Garuda Indonesia pilot arrested in Amsterdam Sunday
with 8,000 Ecstasy pills is a repeat offender.

The Indonesian authorities have no evidence so far that the
49-year-old pilot, Mohammad Said, is a member of a drug
trafficking syndicate, Dibyo said.

An initial investigation has led to the allegation that Said
was attempting to smuggle the stimulant tablets based on
someone's orders, Dibyo told reporters after a ceremony attended
by 70 newly promoted Army officers at Armed Forces headquarters.

"Without the order, it's impossible MS (the suspect) would
smuggle Ecstasy pills into Jakarta. It's also impossible that he
bought thousands of Ecstasy pills on his own," he said.

The suspect is a senior pilot with around 20,000 flying hours
and has served the company for 25 years.

He was arrested at the Amsterdam airport of Schiphol for
allegedly attempting to conceal the pills in a gurita, a
maternity garment that covers the chest and abdomen, shortly
before he flew a Garuda B-747 airplane to Medan and Denpasar in
Indonesia via Paris.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said the pilot
would be fired if he was proven guilty by the court. He has
ordered Garuda to provide legal assistance for the suspect.

The incident has prompted the government to tighten the
supervision of airlines crews, including pilots, to prevent them
from taking advantage of their privileges. The minister suggested
that all flight crew members who arrived from other countries
should be x-rayed.

Also yesterday, Attorney General Singgih said he hoped the
Dutch authorities would allow the pilot to be tried in Indonesia.

Although Indonesia and the Netherlands have no extradition
treaty, the pilot can be extradited to Indonesian based on
reciprocal reasons, he said.

Singgih said under the Dutch law, anyone charged with drug
dealing is subject to a punishment which is lighter than that
which may be meted out by an Indonesian court.

According to Article 5 of the Indonesian Criminal Code, any
citizen who committed crimes overseas can be tried in the country
where the crime took place or in Indonesia, he said.

Singgih, who talked to reporters before attending a cabinet
meeting, also said he would check on reports that the Dutch
authorities mistreated the suspect.

Antara reported that Indonesian embassy officials in The Hague
planned to lodge complaints with the Dutch foreign affairs
ministry for the alleged mistreatment.

"We have received reports that the suspect has been
mistreated, such as not being allowed to contact anyone,
including the Garuda office and the Indonesian embassy,"
Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands J.B. Soedarmanto
Kadarisman was quoted by Antara as saying.

The envoy said the embassy failed to obtain information about
the arrest after receiving the report from Garuda on Sunday.
"We're very disappointed because the Dutch authorities didn't
provide information about the arrest and we knew about the arrest
from press reports on Monday," Kadarisman said.

He said the Dutch authorities allowed embassy staff to meet
with Said only on Tuesday.

Kadarisman said Said tearfully told embassy officials of the
treatment he received during his detention.

The suspect complained that the left side of his chest had
become swollen after being pushed by the police while he was
handcuffed. As of Tuesday, the suspect, who was placed in a small
room, did not receive any medical treatment, Antara reported.

The police allowed the suspect to be represented by a lawyer
who was appointed by Garuda instead of one appointed by the Dutch
authorities.

The police also confiscated the video cassette the embassy
staff used to record the meeting, Kadarisman said. (ste/imn)