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)