'Rehabilitation better than jail' for Maya Sigit
'Rehabilitation better than jail' for Maya Sigit
JAKARTA (JP): A psychiatrist for drug defendant Gusti Maya
Firanti Noor, 29, the wife of former president Soeharto's
grandson Ari Sigit, told a court hearing on Tuesday that the
defendant would be better off in a rehabilitation center than in
jail.
"If the defendant ends up in jail, she might come out and
start smoking shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) again. If she
stays at a rehabilitation center, things might start to look up
for her," Al Bachri, a 54-year-old psychiatrist for drug users at
Wisma Addiksi drug addiction center, told the West Jakarta
District Court.
The hearing, presided over by judge Sri Handojo, heard the
testimony of Bachri as an expert witness who is also serving as a
witness for the defendant.
Bachri said that before Maya had come with her mother to see
him on June 6 last year, Maya had undergone a number of
examinations at a certain hospital in South Jakarta for lung
problems, allegedly caused by consuming drugs.
"Shabu-shabu is a stimulant, which, if used regularly for a
long period, could effect the brain functions of a person, cause
mental problems and physical problems to the liver, the heart and
the lungs. The defendant, to my knowledge, has been on the drug
for three years now," Bachri said.
"The last time I treated the defendant was in August last
year."
Bachri denied that he had applied a certain kind of treatment
used by some doctors to get patients gradually off drugs.
"No, unlike some doctors, I do not feed drugs to patients in
declining dosages, till the appetite for drugs goes away," Bachri
said, eliminating any chance that the doctor himself had
prescribed shabu-shabu for the defendant as a method of treating
her, as was implied by Maya's lawyer, Asfifudin, in the last
hearing.
Asfifudin earlier said that the drugs confiscated from his
client could possibly have been prescribed by Bachri.
When asked what kind of lung affliction the defendant suffered
from, Bachri told the Tuesday hearing that it was a bronchial
affliction caused by "inhaling the shabu-shabu".
He, however, failed to provide his analysis with evidence.
Judge Sri Handojo stated that since Bachri could not provide
any written medical reports of the patient's alleged physical
ailments due to drug use, the court would adjourn the hearing
till next Tuesday when prosecutor Achjadi is expected to have
officially acquired the evidence from Pertamina Hospital.
As reported earlier, the defendant was arrested after police
found 1.58 grams of shabu and drug paraphernalia in her purse and
inside her Mercedes Benz sedan on June 22.
The defendant has been charged with violating Article 62 of
Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic substances, which carries a
maximum sentence of five years in prison. (ylt)