Woman faces one year in jail

Woman faces one year in jail

JAKARTA (JP): An unemployed woman on trial on Thursday for
possessing and smoking marijuana broke down when a prosecutor
demanded a one-year jail term for her.

Wirdaningsih, 31, urged presiding judge Rusdy As'ad at the
Central Jakarta District Court to give her a lighter punishment,
saying that a year in prison was too much for her.

Prosecutor A. Halim Ronie said Wirdaningsih was guilty of
illegally possessing 24 marijuana cigarettes and smoking others
when examined by police officers during one of their regular
operations in June.

"She was guilty of violating Law no. 9/1976 on narcotics,"
Halim said.

The requested punishment is lighter than the minimum
stipulated in the existing law. The legislation says the maximum
punishment is death.

Halim said that Wirdaningsih was arrested on June 26 when she
and seven friends were on their way home in a Kijang van from
Marimba discotheque in Hotel Central on Jl. Pramuka in Central
Jakarta.

Police found the marijuana joints in a cigarette pack
belonging to the defendant, he said.

Wirdaningsih, of Jl. Sunan Drajat, had been detained in Pondok
Bambu since the arrest, Halim said.

Presiding judge Rusdy adjourned the trial until next week to
consider his verdict. (jun)