Iraqi brandishes broken bottle at district court

JAKARTA (JP): An Iraqi national went berserk on Wednesday afternoon at the Central Jakarta District Court, when police and court officials tried to remove him from the court's detention room and return him to the Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta.

"I'll kill you, if you dare come near me," Karim A. Khudyer, 37, told a police officer from the detention room, after breaking two soft-drink bottles and using them to threaten a police officer and a reporter, who tried to take his picture.

"I have brought no heroin or cocaine to your country ... it's just a bloody passport matter and you put me in here (detention) for two months."

"Get your President Abdurrahman Wahid to deal with this matter. I want to speak with someone from my embassy," the Iraqi shouted in English.

Khudyer, who had taken off his shirt, seemed under a great deal of stress when he started hurling threats and insults about police officers and court officers at the Central Jakarta District Court.

"Your prosecutor, your police, all nonsense," said Khudyer, who had by then broken another soft-drink bottle and waved it in the face of an approaching court official, who tried to calm him down.

Gambir Police subprecinct head of public guidance First Insp. Engdi, who tried to calm the defendant at the risk of getting attacked with a bottle, said that the defendant was just "stressed out".

"He'll be fine later... he's just tired," Engdi told bystanders.

An hour earlier, Khudyer was taken to the courtroom on charges of having violated Indonesian immigration laws, namely using a fake visa to enter the country.

But Khudyer decided to close his lips tightly during the entire hearing, which was led by Judge Musa Simatupang.

"I speak no English. Only Arabic," Khudyer claimed.

Prosecutor Fachrul Rozy did his best to get the defendant to speak in court, insisting that the defendant could understand English and that a translator was provided by the court for him, but Khudyer refused.

Judge Musa finally had to adjourn the hearing until next week.

According to Fachrul, Khudyer has been charged Article 49 of Law No. 9/1992 on immigration laws for using a fake travel document. The article carries a maximum punishment of six years in prison plus a fine of up to Rp 30 million.

Before the court proceeding, reporters heard Khudyer yelling in English to the same translator that "President Abdurrahman Wahid should settle the matter".

Fachrul told reporters that Khudyer was initially arrested in mid-April this year for his alleged role in a small brawl at the Mangga Dua Mall area in Central Jakarta.

"It was the police who found out later that he was carrying fake documents," Fachrul said.

At about 4 p.m., an official of the Iraqi Embassy, who arrived in a metallic silver Toyota sedan, managed to rationalize with the defendant and got him to enter the court van.

"This man (Khudyer) is no criminal. He has not brought drugs to Indonesia and he was duped in Kuala Lumpur. He was cheated and he has had to spend a lot of time in a detention cell," said the Iraqi official, who refused to identify himself.

"Anybody would have been stressed out," he said before leaving the court compound. (ylt)