Iranian involved in court debate

Iranian involved in court debate

JAKARTA (JP): An Iranian on trial here for allegedly
possessing 155 heroin pills, was involved in a lengthy debate
with the judge and a security guard when he denied the charges
against him.

Mehdi Jarari, a 28-year-old businessman from Tehran, told the
Central Jakarta district court the heroin did not belong to him
but to his Austrian friend.

The security guard said it was not true.

Army captain Yohannes GP, who worked as a security guard at
Hotel Mini in Central Jakarta, said he found heroin in a plastic
bag in the defendant's hotel room in November.

He said that at the time Mehdi told him some of the drugs were
his but the rest belonged to a friend.

Yohannes said he had repeatedly asked Mehdi questions in
Indonesian and the defendant had answered them well.

But, Mehdi told the court that he had not confessed to owning
any of the heroin.

"I told the officer they belonged to a friend of mine,
Michael, an Austrian," said Mehdi.

He was accompanied an interpreter and testified in English.

The judge asked him why he told a police interrogator that the
drugs were his.

Mehdi denied ever saying it.

When the judge showed him his signature on a statement in a
police dossier, he said it was his signature but insisted he had
never said what was written in the statement.

Judge Albion Sianipar became angry and told Mehdi he was
confusing the court. He yelled at the defendant "do you
understand that a drug case is a serious matter?"

The defendant did not react.

Mehdi is charged under the Law on Narcotics. The maximum
penalty is death.

The judge told the defendant that he had not even clearly
answered questions about who Michael was, where he lived and why
he had entrusted his package of drugs to Mehdi.

Captain Yohannes said he searched Mehdi's hotel room after the
defendant checked in to the hotel, went out again, and did not
show up again for 24 hours.

He found 43 pills in a plastic bag in the room. They were
later found to be heroin.

"We waited hours for him to come back and when he did he had
another 112 pills," Yohannes testified.

He said he had contacted the city police headquarters, and
they sent officers to arrest the suspect.

Mehdi said yesterday he had not intended to stay at the hotel.
"I was there to visit my Indonesian girl friend," he said.

In a previous session, a hotel office boy testified that Mehdi
went to the hotel with a local woman and checked in under her
name.

The hearing was adjourned for two weeks. (12)