PDI-P drops ax on 'E' legislator

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said on Wednesday it has fired one of its councillors, Sudiharto Saka, from the Central Java provincial legislature after he was convicted in an illicit drug case.

The Semarang District Court on Tuesday sentenced him to five months and 15 days in prison after he was proven guilty of taking the banned drug popularly known as ecstasy, in August.

"Saka has officially been dismissed as a PDI Perjuangan member after the court found him guilty," Murdoko, chairman of the party's Central Java chapter, told The Jakarta Post in Semarang.

However, he did not say whether Saka would be prevented from returning to his position as a PDI Perjuangan councillor after serving his jail term.

Presiding judge Sri Rahayu Sundari said during Tuesday's trial that Saka admitted to his drug habit which began in June 2003, claiming he was distressed over a political rift within his party.

The court said the convicted councillor, who represented his constituents in the Central Java regency of Tegal, was proven guilty of violating Article 60 (5) of Law No. 5/1997 on illicit drugs.

For the crime, prosecutor Endang Rakhmawati had sought 11 months imprisonment for Saka. But the judges jailed him only for half of that because he had never been convicted and "behaved politely" during the trial.

The court also fined him Rp 500,000 (US$58), to be substituted for by two months in jail if he fails to pay.

Saka was caught red-handed during a drug raid by Central Java Police on Aug. 10, 2003, at Zodiak Discotheque in Tegal. A urine test proved the drug charges against him.

The court also jailed Saka's friend Endah Rosiani, 20, for five months and fined her Rp 500,000. She was also arrested during the drug party.

Both said they would accept the verdicts and would not appeal.