Trial for Dutch woman begins

Trial for Dutch woman begins

TANGERANG: The trial involving a Dutch woman charged with
possession of 4,885 ecstasy pills started on Thursday at
Tangerang District Court after being postponed twice due to the
absence of a Dutch-Indonesian language interpreter.

An English language interpreter accompanied the defendant,
Sibel Yalvac, 20, a resident of Amsterdam, the Netherlands,
during the trial, even though she said she was not comfortable
with English.

Prosecutors Andrizal and Eben Silalahi alternately read out
the charges, saying that the defendant has violated Article 59 of
the law No. 5/1999 on psychotropic substances.

Yalvac was arrested upon her arrival at the Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport from Malaysia in August. A Customs and
Excise officer was suspicious about a strange object in her bag
seen through the X-ray machine when she passed by the checking
point.

The prosecutors said that the officers found the pills wrapped
in a plastic bag inside her bag when they examined her
belongings. A test result confirmed that the pills contained
amphetamine.

The suspect then was handed over to police for further
investigation.

If the defendant is proven guilty, she will face a maximum
punishment of 15 years prison term.

Presiding judge Ade Komarudin adjourned the session until next
Thursday to hear the defense lawyer's rebuttal against the
prosecutor's charges.

After the trial, lawyer Hendrik again demanded the court to
provide a Dutch language interpreter since the defendant does not
speak English fluently. -- JP