Twenty-year jail term sought for actor Ibra

The prosecution requested the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday to sentence actor Ibra Azhari, alias Ibrahim Salahudin, to 20 years in jail for illegally possessing and dealing in drugs.

According to Chief Prosecutor Pentje L. Eyfert, Ibra, the brother of noted actress Ayu Azhari, had been proved guilty beyond all reasonable doubt of the ownership of 230 ecstasy pills, 16.7 grams of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) and 8.5 grams of cocaine.

"The defendant also reoffended while serving two years' probation on a similar charge," he told the South Jakarta District Court.

Pentje said the defendant had committed a crime that endangered the lives of millions of Indonesian children.

He also urged the court to order Ibra to pay a fine of Rp 500 million (US$58,823).

Wearing a brown shirt and black trousers, Ibra shook his head, apparently shocked at hearing the prosecution sentence recommendation.

Last week, he fainted before the hearing could start. The trial was adjourned while the defendant was brought back to his cell at the Salemba penitentiary in Central Jakarta.

His lawyers said that the prosecution request for a 20-year jail term and the fine were "too much."

Ibra denied earlier that he had sold drugs, saying instead they were all intended for his personal consumption.

Presiding Judge Soedarto adjourned the hearing until next week to hear pleas from Ibra's defense.

Police arrested Ibra at his girlfriend's residence at Wisma Bumi Rajawali in Pancoran, South Jakarta, in February of this year. The incriminating drugs were seized by police at the same time.

The arrest of Ibra quickly gave rise to gossip as he was reportedly apprehended along with a son of Vice President Hamzah Haz by Hamzah's third wife.

Although Hamzah's third wife Soraya Haz denied the allegation, the affair led to the public becoming aware that the Vice President has at least three wives, instead of two wives as officially claimed.

Ibra previously served several months in jail after he was arrested for drug possession on Aug. 31, 2000, at a house on Jl. Batu Merah in South Jakarta.

Drug dealing is punishable by death in Indonesia. -- JP