Minister says Zarina must serve out her sentence

Minister says Zarina must serve out her sentence

TANGERANG (JP): Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza
Mahendra insisted on Friday that drug suspect Zarina must serve
out the remaining two years of a previous jail sentence
regardless of the outcome of new drug charges.

The 27-year-old onetime actress was dubbed the country's
"Ecstasy Queen" by the media when she was arrested in 1996 for
storing almost 30,000 ecstasy pills in her home. She was
convicted and sentenced to a four-year jail term, but received a
conditional release last year.

Yusril said Zarina must complete the duration of her previous
sentence even if the recent case, which is still under
investigation by the Jakarta Police, falls through.

But a trial and conviction on new charges will mean that
Zarina must spend more time in jail, he said during a visit to
Tangerang Women's Penitentiary, where Zarina is incarcerated.

"So the remaining sentence would be added to the new one. But
the one has yet to be determined by the court," Yusril, who was
accompanying State Minister of Human Rights Affairs Hasballah M.
Saad in a visit to two prisons, said.

In the meeting with Hasballah and his entourage, Zarina
repeated her objection to her arrest at an apartment in West
Jakarta on Nov. 11, arguing there was no legal basis.

"If I'm wrong, please prove it in court. I have no idea why I
was suddenly detained," she said, appealing to the government to
treat her fairly.

Zarina was arrested with her boyfriend Ahian Santoso in the
West Jakarta apartment where police found drugs and drug
paraphernalia.

Zarina was named a suspect, which she has vehemently denied.
She claimed that she went to the apartment in an effort to help
her drug-addicted boyfriend, who is also known as Yeyeh.

Four days after her arrest, the former badminton athlete was
once again at the center of controversy after city police
officers learned she was allowed out of detention to visit a
discotheque for several hours.

The incident was reminiscent in its audacity of her daring
escape from police custody a few days after her arrest in 1996,
when fled the country before finally being arrested in the United
States.

She was apprehended in 1996 at her house in West Jakarta by
Tangerang detectives with nearly 30,000 ecstasy pills stored in a
bedroom safe.

After being sentenced to four years in prison, Zarina was
granted a conditional release on Oct. 21 last year.

Following her visit to the discotheque, the police sent Zarina
to the Tangerang prison, which led to angry protests from the
suspect, her family and lawyers.

Zarina filed a lawsuit at the South Jakarta District Court
late last month, demanding the court declare her arrest unlawful.

The court dismissed the suit on a legal technicality, ruling
that Zarina's lawyers lacked the competency to represent her in
court.

The court said the lawyers had yet to receive a letter of
authorization from Zarina to represent her in court.

"Both the lawyers and Zarina were not serious in pursuing the
case in the court proceedings," said presiding judge Maulida.

However, Zarina has not backed down in attempting to have her
arrest ruled unlawful. Her father, businessman Mirafsur Khan,
filed suit against the city police in the same court, which
started the pretrial hearing of the case on Friday.

"The police were unable to provide strong evidence to indicate
the arrest was lawful. The urine test carried out by the city
police also proved that Zarina did not consume drugs at that
time," Roy Rening, one of Mirafsur's lawyers, told the hearing
presided over by judge I Gde Putra Yatna.

Capt. Barnabas Iman Setiyono was part of the city police's
team of lawyers

Roy said the city police committed a violation of Zarina's
human rights.

Judge Putra Yatna adjourned the hearing until Monday when the
city police's lawyers will present their defense statement.
(41/bsr/asa)