Zarina to stand trial next week

Zarina to stand trial next week

JAKARTA (JP): Zarina, the 24-year-old TV actress charged with
trafficking 29,677 Ecstasy pills, will be tried in the West
Jakarta District Court on Jan. 30.

The hearing will be presided over by a panel of judges chaired
by Sumantri.

Sumantri, who is also the Court's public relations officer,
said yesterday the other judges would be Fadli Fahmi and H.A.
Pardede.

Zarina will be defended by a team of lawyers led by Amir
Syamsudin.

Twenty witnesses will testify in the trial, Sumantri said.

The East Jakarta Prosecutor's office submitted the case
dossier to the Court Tuesday.

The prosecutors will be Rezia Djamil and Uri Hasan Basri.

Zarina, who had a minor role in a TV drama, was charged under
the 1992 Health Law which bans the distribution of dangerous
drugs without an official permit.

If found guilty she faces a maximum 15 years jail and a fine
of up to Rp 300 million (US$125,000). Indonesia has no specific
Ecstasy law.

Zarina was arrested Aug. 7 when police found the pills in her
West Jakarta house. She has denied the pills were hers.

After one day in police custody she escaped while being
escorted from Tangerang police office to Jakarta Police
Headquarters. The detective escorting her was dismissed.

On Nov. 4 Zarina was re-arrested by United States immigration
authorities in Houston, Texas, for overstaying her visa. She
agreed to leave the country voluntarily to avoid prosecution
there.

She was brought back to Jakarta two weeks later, escorted by
Indonesian police officers and her lawyers. (05)