Police deny statements made by Zarina's father

JAKARTA (JP): City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata denied yesterday statements made by Mirafsur, Ecstasy suspect Zarina's father, who said that his daughter had planned to surrender to police.

Hamami also rebutted the accusation that police had broken their promise concerning an agreement on the arrangement of Zarina's surrender, as claimed by Mirafsur.

"There is no reason for the police to deal with criminals. There's no consensus here. The only thing we have planned is to arrest her, because she is a suspected criminal," the two-star general said.

Zarina's father told a press conference Friday that his 24- year-old daughter had already made an unwritten agreement with the Jakarta police detectives.

The agreement, made through telephone calls, said that Zarina, accompanied by her lawyer, would turn herself in to Jakarta police custody in early November, said Mirafsur, who claimed to have initiated the deal.

"However, the police -- who had already obtained Zarina's address -- broke their promise and my daughter was arrested in Houston in the States," the property businessman said. The woman, charged by Jakarta police with possessing Ecstasy pills, was arrested Monday (Houston time) in Houston.

According to Hamami, Zarina could say anything she wanted. "It's her business," he said.

"But if she wanted to turn herself in, she would have come to us since her escape three months ago," he said.

"Not too late, like now," he said.

"Why did she want to surrender after she had been abroad for months? She has been troublesome to us," Hamami said.

Zarina was apprehended on Aug. 7 for possessing 29,677 pills -- worth at least Rp 1.78 billion (US$757,700) -- at her home in the Taman Alfa Indah housing complex in Joglo, West Jakarta by Tangerang detectives.

The pills were found by police in a box. Mirafsur said Friday his daughter knew nothing about the contents of the box, which was held by Zarina at the request of a friend.

Mirafsur said Zarina was only told by the friend that the box contained millions of rupiah in cash.

Zarina escaped while on police escort the next day.

According to police data, she had spent several weeks in cities in Central Java and Sumatra before heading for Houston via Singapore and Malaysia.

Police said the woman arrived in Houston about a month ago and was arrested there Monday afternoon.

She was caught while hiding behind a clothes rack in an underwear department store in the city.

Hamami quoted the latest information from the States that Zarina might be tried in the U.S. for overstaying. A trial was likely, despite her being unable to decide whether she preferred to be tried in the U.S. or in Jakarta.

Police sources said Zarina had to wait for her lawyer, Amir Syamsuddin, before making any decisions. The lawyer, who flew to the U.S. from Jakarta Thursday, was expected to arrive in Houston by Friday evening.

"If she later has to stand trial in the U.S. for an immigration violation, we have no choice but to wait until the trial is completed," Hamami said.

The police chief said that his officers, with the support of the U.S. Federation Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have already planned a well-prepared security system for her return trip.

Shortly after Zarina's escape last August, head of the Tangerang detectives, Capt. Ade Sutiana, was dismissed and is now awaiting trial for his alleged negligence which had caused Zarina's escape.

A few days later, the chief of the Tangerang police, Lt. Col. Djoko Satryo, was removed from his post. (bsr)