Liberian jailed for immigration violation

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced a 26-year-old Liberian to seven months in jail on Wednesday for residing in the country without legal travel documents.

Judge Marni Emmy said Roland Saah entered the country in September 1998 and lived in a rented room on Jl. Kali Baru Timur in Central Jakarta.

"He was netted in July this year during a raid on foreigners by immigration officers in the Kampung Rawa area in Central Jakarta," she told the court.

Saah claimed his passport was taken by a person he did not know and he was unable to identify the latter's whereabouts, she added.

Asked if he accepted the sentence, the Liberian began to cry and nodded.

The sentence was one month less than the demand of prosecutor R. Saragih.

Saah acted as his own defense counsel and used broken Indonesian during the trial.

The court presented four witnesses, all locals, including Saah's girlfriend Meike Sahertian and the owner of the rented room. (asa/bsr)