Ecstasy trial continues

TANGERANG, West Java (JP): The defense lawyers of a woman being tried for attempting to smuggle 9,000 Ecstasy pills into the country asked the Tangerang District Court yesterday to drop the charges against their client.

According to the lawyers, Nuryanto and Rusdi Sovian, the prosecutors could not use Health Regulation No. 23/1992 to convict the 41-year-old defendant, Elizabeth Lushe Wongkar.

According to Nuryanto, only institutions, professional and business groups having expertise in public health, not individuals, are subject to the regulation.

"The defendant is only a woman who has no expertise in public health. She had the Ecstasy pills just because she thought the pills could make her a lot of money," he said.

In their rebuttal, the lawyers also refuted the prosecutor's indictment that the defendant attempted to traffic the pills. The prosecutor did not elaborate what attempts the defendant made to sell the Ecstasy, they said.

Elizabeth Lushe Wongkar was apprehended by the Sukarno-Hatta International Airport's customs and excise officials on March 27, 1997 for bringing 9,000 Ecstasy pills from the Netherlands.

She claimed she bought the pills from someone named Sonny Luis Lai in Den Haag. She then boarded a Lufthansa flight which landed at Sukarno-Hatta at 7:45 a.m.

In the previous hearing on Aug.7, the public prosecutor, Sarwono, accused Elizabeth of attempting to smuggle the illegal drug into Indonesia. If found guilty, the defendant could be imprisoned for up to 15 years and fined up to Rp 300 million (US$128,597).

The trial was adjourned until Aug. 21. (28/26)