Zarina agrees to return for trial at home: Police
Zarina agrees to return for trial at home: Police
JAKARTA (JP): Zarina, the Ecstasy-case suspect apprehended
recently in Houston, U.S., has agreed to be brought back home for
prosecution, a police officer said yesterday.
National Police Spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurfaizi said the
24-year-old novice television series actress is expected to
arrive here by Monday.
"According to the latest information from our detectives in
Houston, Zarina is going to stand trial at a local court there
for an immigration violation on Tuesday, Houston time or
Wednesday Jakarta time," Nurfaizi said.
Nurfaizi said the Houston court might give only a light
sentence to Zarina so she could be flown immediately to Jakarta
to be tried for allegedly possessing 29,677 Ecstasy pills, worth
about Rp 1.78 billion (US$757,700).
Nurfaizi did not describe the U.S. immigration officers'
charges against Zarina, but the Indonesian consul general in
Houston, Siswadi Harjowijoyo, said she was accused of using fake
documents to enter the U.S.
Both officers gave no explanation about how long Zarina might
spend in jail.
Earlier, Nufaizi said the suspect was arrested in the United
States because she entered with a false passport.
"We hope that Zarina can leave the States immediately after
she has complied with any punishment handed down by the Houston
court and can arrive at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
here as scheduled," he said.
Zarina is being detained at Houston's Liberty County Jail.
She was arrested in Houston after Indonesian police assisted
by FBI personnel found her hiding behind a clothes rack in a
department store last Monday.
Five senior Jakarta police detectives, led by Lt. Col. Gories
Mere, have been in Houston since late last month.
They are assigned to escort Zarina from the United States to
Jakarta.
Zarina's lawyer Amir Syamsuddin, from Jakarta, is representing
her in her immigration case and her Ecstasy case.
The suspect was arrested on Aug. 7 for possessing Ecstasy
pills at her home in the Taman Alfa Indah housing complex in
Joglo, West Jakarta. The police found the pills in a box. Zarina
escaped during a police escort the next day.
Zarina's father, property businessman Mirafsur K, said his
daughter had told him and the police she thought the box
contained only cash because that was what her friend told her.
She also denied police claims she rented the house where the
Ecstasy-filled box was found, said Mirafsur, who spoke to the
press for the first time late last week.
"It was rented by a friend named Edwin," he said.
So far police have not questioned Edwin.
Zarina's escape might lead to some of her relatives being
arrested, in particular those who might have helped her escape.
Before arriving in the U.S. a month ago, Zarina had hid in
several Indonesian cities including Bogor, Yogyakarta and Batam
island and spent a few days in Singapore and Malaysia, police
said.
In Houston, she was said to have stayed at a house belonging
to the family of her younger sister Rovina.
During police questioning, Rovina's husband, Thomas Jamail
Jr., an American working at the Indonesian Consulate General's
office in Houston, tried to conceal Zarina's presence at their
house.
Consul general Siswadi was quoted by Antara as saying on
Sunday he had suspended Jamail from work.
"Rather than having a headache, it's better for me to keep him
waiting at his house and ask him to help us persuade his sister-
in-law to be willing to be brought back to Indonesia for trial,"
Siswadi said. (bsr)