Two foreigners charged with telephone pulse theft

JAKARTA (JP): Two foreigners were arraigned in the West Jakarta District Court on Wednesday on charges of stealing pulses from cellular phones belonging to seven Indonesians.

Prosecutor Ohoi Ulun told the court that Ng Chee Leong, 28, of Malaysia and Hasnat Ahmad Varya, 25, of Pakistan had gained access to the seven cellular phone numbers using sophisticated tools.

The pair then made these numbers available to phone users in Malaysia to make long distance calls at reduced rates, Ohoi said. The Indonesian owners had to pick up the huge bills, he added.

The two men were arrested at a hotel in Mangga Besar district in April by police acting on complaints by the seven owners that their cellular phone bills in March were unusually large.

The victims said their monthly bills normally ranged between Rp 100,000 and Rp 900,000, but in March they reached between Rp 800,000 and Rp 4 million, the prosecutor said.

The defendants allegedly collaborated with 13 telephone agents in Malaysia. Calls were placed through the seven numbers to phones in the United States, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and other countries, he said.

The defendants have been charged under article 365 of the Penal Code pertaining to theft. If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to four years.

The prosecutor also claimed the men were guilty of violating Article 12 of the 1989 Law on Telecommunications by using telecommunications facilities unauthorized for private use. If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to four years and fined up to Rp 40 million.

The trial was adjourned until July 23.

Meanwhile, lawyers defending a Nepalese student charged with possessing and trafficking heroin urged the South Jakarta District Court Wednesday to dismiss the case, saying their client was innocent even though he knew of the crime.

They said 21-year-old Aita Ram Tamang had admitted to interrogators only of knowing that another Nepalese, currently undergoing police investigation, was in possession of 142 heroin tablets.

The lawyers from Pranggono & Partners Law Firm said prosecutor Halim Tola in his indictment recognized that the other Nepalese had smuggled the heroin in from Bangkok by swallowing them.

The lawyers argued for dismissal, saying he prosecutor's charge of possession and trafficking under Article 23 of the 1976 Law on Narcotics did not apply to their client.

The article carries a maximum penalty of death.

The defendant stands charged under Article 48 which states that anyone with knowledge of drug possession or trafficking who fails to report to the authorities can be punished with up to one year of imprisonment.

The lawyers noted that in the chronology presented in the indictment, their client was only mentioned once.

"The prosecutor only said that the defendant met another Nepalese man for the first time at Sarinah (department store) and was invited to spend the night in his hotel room.

"That was the only connection between them before police arrested them (in April)," the lawyers said.

The trial was adjourned until July 23. (12)