Prosecutor defends prosecution protocol
Prosecutor defends prosecution protocol
JAKARTA (JP): A prosecutor insisted on Tuesday that
prosecuting attorneys could improvise on the content of an
indictment as there were no strict rules requiring the court to
split separate criminal cases into separate dossiers.
"Article 143 of the Criminal Code indeed requires the
prosecutor to compose the indictment in an accurate, clear and
complete manner, but it does not provide a clear definition of
the Article," prosecutor Hasan Madani said in a hearing at the
Central Jakarta District Court, which tried drug defendant Zarina
Mirafsur.
"Therefore, everyone cannot declare his or her own
interpretation of a regulation as the most correct one," he told
the packed courtroom while reading his defense statement.
The prosecutor was commenting on an accusation made by
Zarina's lawyers in a previous hearing that the indictment was
unclear and unacceptable since the prosecutor had drawn up only
one indictment for two separate cases.
Article 143 of the Criminal Code stipulates that prosecutors
draft an indictment with accurate, clear and complete information
about the crimes charged to the defendant, including the place
and time of the crime.
The lawyers had earlier demanded the prosecution compose one
indictment for one case, and make the second indictment after the
court issued the verdict for the first case.
Hasan defended that he could "improvise on the composition of
the indictment" in the absence of a clear regulation.
"Prosecutors usually establish indictments based on customary
techniques which are inherited from their seniors, so it is
difficult to judge the indictment as unclear and unacceptable
just based on tradition," he said in the hearing presided over by
judge Basoeki.
Zarina, who wore black pants and a white blouse, did not make
any comment during the hearing. She listened attentively to the
prosecutor as he read the 8-page defense statement.
The prosecutor said in the indictment that Zarina was firstly
accused of possessing shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) when
the police raided a house on Jl. Kemanggisan Utama Raya in West
Jakarta on Oct. 1.
Zarina was then arrested on Nov. 11 along with friend Ahian
Santoso alias Yeye in a hotel apartment in West Jakarta. She was
secondly indicted with possessing shabu-shabu, a violation of
article 62 of the 1997 Law on Psychotropic Substances, which
carries a maximum jail sentence of five years.
The judge adjourned the hearing until Monday when Zarina's
lawyers will make their response. (asa)