Zarina to face charges of drug possession, use

JAKARTA (JP): Drug suspect Zarina Mirafsur is expected to appear in the courtroom of the West Jakarta District Court on Tuesday on double charges, Judge Basoeki of the court said.

The judge, who will preside over the first hearing of the case, told reporters at his office on Monday that the 27-year-old woman would be charged with drug possession and consumption for two separate cases.

According to Basoeki, the prosecutor would therefore request a stratified jail sentence for the defendant.

"If she is proven guilty, she might face a five-year jail sentence (for the first case) plus a 20-month prison term (for the second one)," the judge said.

In the indictment, the prosecutor accused Zarina, widely known as the queen of ecstasy following her 1996 arrest with 30,000 ecstasy pills, of illegally possessing shabu-shabu (crystal metamphetamine) which violated Article 62 of the 1997 Law on Psychotropics.

Zarina, a former television actress, was also charged for illegally consuming drugs, along with other people, for which she could face a violation of Article 71 (1) of the same Law.

Article 62 carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a maximum fine of Rp 100 million, while violating Article 71 would allow the prosecutor to ask the judges for another jail term of one-third of the five-year term, or equal to 20 months.

In the indictment, the prosecutor said that Zarina was firstly accused of consuming and possessing shabu-shabu on Oct. 1 at two houses on Jl. Kemanggisan Utama Raya in West Jakarta and in the Duren Sawit area in East Jakarta respectively.

Zarina and her two friends, Jantje Gustaf Mustamu and Dedy Mulyadi, took the drugs at the first house before moving to the second one.

At the second house, the three met two other friends, Nazar and Ahian Santoso, and together smoked shabu-shabu, allegedly brought by Zarina, the indictment said.

Police arrived at the scene after a fearful Dedy was scared by "a pen" (gun) of Ahian's, and reported the case to the nearby West Jakarta Police precinct, the indictment said.

Nazar and Jantje are still at large.

On Nov. 11, Jakarta Police detectives arrested Zarina and Ahian in a hotel apartment in West Jakarta during an early morning raid, seizing 0.3 grams of shabu-shabu, tin foil and paraphernalia used to smoke the drug, it said.

The indictment said the officers also seized four "Happy Five" tranquilizers from Ahian's wallet.

Basoeki did not clarify why Zarina was freed following the October arrest.

When asked to comment separately, Ali Mazi, one of Zarina's lawyers, said the West Jakarta Prosecutor's Office had violated court procedure.

"In a case where there are two separate acts the defendant is charged with, the prosecutor must bring to court the initial case first," he told The Jakarta Post.

The prosecutor must firstly prove whether the defendant is guilty or not, then they can proceed with the second charge, he said.

Judge Baseoki will be accompanied by Hadi Lelana and Mohammad Ismail at the hearing on Tuesday. Zarinah is currently incarcerated at Tangerang Women's Penitentiary, west of here. (asa)