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Driver insists he used drugs despite negative test

Despite being cleared of drug charges by police, through his lawyer Christopher Daniel Sjarief insists he consumed LSD [lysergic acid diethylamide] a few hours before killing four people in a series of road collisions on Jan

Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, February 2, 2015

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Driver insists he used drugs despite negative test

D

espite being cleared of drug charges by police, through his lawyer Christopher Daniel Sjarief insists he consumed LSD [lysergic acid diethylamide] a few hours before killing four people in a series of road collisions on Jan. 20.

Christopher'€™s lawyer, Agus Salim, said over the weekend that Christopher maintained he was driving the SUV under the influence of LSD that was given to him by a friend, Muhammad Ali Husni.

'€œI stick to my client'€™s statement that he was unconscious and under the influence of drugs during the accident,'€ Agus told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Christopher lost control of the SUV he was driving on Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda in South Jakarta and crashed into six motorcyclists and two cars on the congested street. The accident killed four people, including a police officer. Two people were injured in the incident, while two others remain in a critical condition.

In a statement issued shortly after the incident, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said Christopher had '€œtested positive'€ for having consumed LSD.

However, a week after the incident, South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Wahyu Hadiningrat unexpectedly told reporters that based on the urine and blood test results released by National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Christopher had not been proven '€œto have consumed LSD or any other drugs'€.

Wahyu said at the press conference that the previous positive test result was made based on Christopher'€™s confession.

In response to the negative test result, Martinus said his statement had been based on Christopher'€™s confession and a physical examination.

During the press conference, South Jakarta Police drugs unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hando Wibowo said he welcomed the negative test result because it would remove the possibility of Christopher protecting himself before the court by saying he was unconscious during the incident.

'€œLet'€™s say the drug test was positive. He could have then hired a top lawyer who would try to prove that he should be sent to a rehabilitation facility instead of prison because of the drug [use],'€ Hando said at the time.

Contacted separately, criminal law expert from Muhammadiyah University Jakarta, Chairul Huda, said that driving under influence could instead present incriminating evidence rather than mitigating evidence.

Chairul added that the court would consider anyone who used drugs prior to driving as being aware of the risks.

'€œBy using drugs, we can say that he deliberately hit the vehicles and killed four people that night,'€ he said.

Chairul cited a case three years ago, when a driver, Afriyani, killed nine people during in a crash in Central Jakarta. He said the court handed down 15-year sentence, the maximum allowed, because she was driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

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