Prosecutor demands tough drug sentence

JAKARTA (JP): A prosecutor demanded on Friday a six-year jail sentence and Rp 30 million (US$4,400) fine for a 37-year-old woman accused of producing shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine).

"The defendant is guilty of violating Article 60 of the 1997 Law on Psychotropic Substances," said prosecutor Amri Sata, in a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court presided over by Judge Musa Simatupang.

The article carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail and a maximum fine of Rp 200 million ($29,400) if convicted.

Amri said Maya Tulenan was arrested when city police detectives raided her room in a hotel in Central Jakarta.

"After receiving a tip from the public, city police detectives raided the hotel room where the defendant was staying, and found several grams of shabu-shabu and ecstasy powder, packed in some small plastic bags," he said.

Amri said the city police also seized an ecstasy molding machine comprising a car jack, a powder filter and an iron buffer.

"The defendant said that the equipment was hers. She had ordered a technician to make the equipment at a cost of Rp 35,000 ($5) in early May," said the prosecutor.

He said the defendant was sentenced by the Central Jakarta District Court last year to seven months in jail for possessing shabu-shabu.

Maya's lawyer, Harlan Tambunan, told reporters after the hearing that the sentence sought by the prosecutor was "excessive" and had no strong grounds.

"If the prosecutor said the defendant had produced ecstasy pills, he should have found the pills as evidence," he told reporters at the court.

He said the defendant could be charged for production of ecstasy. "But the Law on Psychotropics has yet to rule on the possible charge for production of drugs," he said.

The prosecutor said in his indictment that the defendant could also be charged for possessing drugs. (asa)