Lawyer pleads Dutchman's innocence in drug trial

JAKARTA (JP): The lawyer of defendant Christian van den Bosch, on trial for drug trafficking, said yesterday his client is innocent and asked the Central Jakarta District Court to acquit him of all charges.

"Based on testimonies presented in this trial we can conclude that the charges against the defendant of drug trafficking have not been proven," said lawyer Azis Unulula.

"Therefore, all the prosecutor's charges against my client must be dropped," Azis said.

Reading a defense statement on behalf of his client during the trial, presided over by Judge Djamil Sularso, Azis said none of the witnesses or even the police investigation could prove that the 7,500 "Eva" pills containing the illegal substance derivate amphetamine found at the defendant's lodgings actually belonged to him.

Prosecutor Suriansjah has demanded a six-year jail term for the Dutchman.

Christian van den Bosch, along with three accomplices, was arrested on Feb. 6 at the Hotel Borobudur Inter-Continental, Central Jakarta, on charges of possessing or attempting to sell illegal substances.

At the time, the defendant, accompanied by countrymen Leonard Jacobus alias Levi and Americans Steven J. Bryner and Peter M. Karajin, were supposedly meeting a man by the name of Irsan to conduct a drug transaction.

Based on police information, Irsan worked for a woman, identified only as Nova, who had met with the defendant a year earlier and had agreed to buy several thousands Eva pills smuggled from the Netherlands for Rp 80,000 each.

Following a tip from an unknown informant, the police raided the scene at the hotel and found Levi holding 163 Eva pills, and Irsan in the washroom about to conduct the transaction while the others waited in the lobby coffee shop outside.

All five were then taken to the Central Jakarta police precinct. Irsan escaped arrest and is still at large.

Later on that night, the police searched Bryner's house where the defendant and Levi had been staying for several months.

Examining Bryner's room they found a package containing 7,500 Eva pills.

In his defense statement, Azis said that the witnesses, including the defendant, had testified that the package belonged to Bryner and not the defendant.

He scoffed at Bryner's written testimony saying that the drugs were not his but the defendants.

Bryner and Karajin were working as security personnel at the American embassy in Jakarta and are thereby entitled to diplomatic immunity.

Both have been extradited to the United States territory of Guam and are being tried there.

Azis further dispelled any notion of his client's involvement in the crime saying that no drugs or substantial amounts of money were ever found on the defendant during the supposed drug transaction.

Only Rp 50,000 (US$23.1) was found on the defendant during the arrest.

Earlier the defendant retracted his police confession arguing that it was made under severe mental duress.

The defendant revealed that before being taken to the police station, he was taken to a mysterious building and threatened with a 10 to 15-year jail sentence if he refused to cooperate.

The trial was adjourned until Saturday. (mds)