Supreme Court official gets 7 months in prison

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court sentenced on Monday a Supreme Court official to seven months in prison for possession of drugs and firearms.

Presiding judge Soemarno told the court that Muhamad Adil, a 39-year-old official and son of former justice Bustanul Arifin, was guilty of possessing firearms and a package of marijuana.

Soemarno said it was unfortunate for the defendant that he was a civil servant and that he possessed drugs and weapons.

"The defendant should have set a good example for members of society," he said.

Among the mitigating factors, Soemarno said, were that the defendant was still young and regretted his wrongdoing.

The court also ordered Adil to pay Rp 1 million (US$106) in fines.

Adil was arrested in June this year in the parking lot of a hotel in Central Jakarta, after police received a tip-off from his wife.

When police raided his hotel room, a pen gun, a rifle, a tear gas launcher, 70 bullets, a package of marijuana and drug paraphernalia for smoking shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) were found in a bag belonging to him.

Prosecutor Dudi Mulya Kusumah had asked the district court to sentence Adil to 15 months in prison for possession of firearms and drugs.

Dudi accused defendant Adil of violating Article 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951 on firearms.

The Article, which bans wrongful possession of firearms, carries a maximum punishment of death.

Adil was also accused of violating Article 78 of Law No. 22/1997 on psychotropic substances.

The Article, banning possession of marijuana, carries a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment and a Rp 500 million fine.

During the hearing, Adil denied possessing any drugs, but was unable to prove that the drugs found in his hotel room were not his since they were found in his bag.

In response to the judge's verdict, Dudi said he would soon appeal the court's ruling to the Jakarta High Court.

"Within two or three days, we will file an appeal," he said.

A clerk at the court said former justice Bustanul Arifin, Adil's father, had asked the court to punish his son accordingly.

"Bustanul was very angry at his son because his embarrassing behavior had ruined his good relationship with Adil's parents-in- law," said the clerk. (01)