Zarina dissmises lawyers over inattention

Zarina dissmises lawyers over inattention

JAKARTA (JP): Unable to provide serious legal counsel and
assistance in her latest case, drug trafficking suspect Zarina
Mirafsur fired two of her lawyers -- Roy Rening and Pascalis
Pieter -- on Monday.

"The decision to sack Roy and Pascalis is definite. But, I
still don't know who the replacements are. My father is looking
for senior lawyers to replace them. Many candidates have offered,
so, we'll see later," Zarina's sister, Zamila, told The Jakarta
Post on Tuesday.

Zamila said the decision was made when the family visited
Zarina at the Tangerang Women's Prison on Monday.

"Zarina fired Roy and Pascalis because they never bothered to
come and fight against her transfer from the city police
detention center to Tangerang Prison last week. They were busy
with some Singaporean clients of theirs at that time," she said.

An aide of Roy and Pascalis who requested anonymity, however,
said that both lawyers had "resigned" as they were not sure if
they would receive "good money" from Zarina.

"They felt that, rather than not getting much, they would
rather leave the case, and go for better cases," the aide said.

"Besides, there is the matter of the written confession which
the lawyers said Ahian Santoso (Zarina's boyfriend) signed,
confessing that the drugs in the hotel room belonged to him and
not Zarina."

"That letter was written by one of the lawyers himself. I
won't say which one. But, it definitely was not the handwriting
of Ahian."

"They will never be able to produce that as evidence in court
since it's inadmissible."

Mirafsur, Zarina's father, confirmed that he was looking for
senior lawyers for her.

"It's only to strengthen the defense case. We want the best
for her," Mirafsur told the Post.

A judge at the South Jakarta District Court dismissed last
Friday the pretrial hearing of a lawsuit filed by Zarina against
city police headquarters, citing a legal technicality in the
prosecution. The plaintiff's lawyers did not have an
authorization letter from Zarina to represent her in the court
proceedings.

Zarina filed the lawsuit with the court last week, demanding
it issue a ruling that her arrest was unlawful.

Zarina, together with nine other suspects, were arrested in an
early morning police raid on five rooms in a hotel in West
Jakarta, on Nov. 11.

The police confiscated 835 ecstasy pills, 51.2 grams of shabu-
shabu (crystal methamphetamine), 28 pornographic movies, six
bongs and two small scales.

Zarina was sent back to Tangerang Women's Prison last
Wednesday evening after Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril
Ihza Mahendra revoked her conditional release status due to her
alleged involvement in the drug case. Zarina was granted the
conditional release status last year for good behavior. (ylt)