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)