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)