Actress Nia Ramadhani and her husband Ardi Bakrie are set to undergo drug rehabilitation following the explosive news of their arrest last week, while police continue their investigation into the case.
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Indrawienny Panjiyoga, who heads Central Jakarta Police’s Narcotics unit, said that the three suspects, which include Nia’s driver ZN, are now in the custody of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN). They are set to begin rehabilitation at a BNN facility in Bogor, West Java.
“The legal process continues, it’s still going on, the filing is being processed, the files will be sent to the prosecutor’s office later,” Indrawienny said yesterday.
Celebrities or public figures arrested for drugs in Indonesia are, more often than not, sent to rehab and not prison despite Indonesia’s harsh drug laws, while the same doesn’t always apply to common people.
Police had found 0.78 grams of crystal meth, locally known as shabu, during Nia’s arrest. Nia told authorities that she first used meth when she was still working as a sinetron (Indonesian soap opera) actress. Nia claimed to have stopped her drug use, before relapsing with her husband in the last five months, citing work pressure amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nia and ZN were apprehended last Wednesday in South Jakarta, where police also found a bong that has since been determined to belong to the former. Nia confessed to frequent use of the substance with Ardi, who later turned himself in to the police. The three of them tested positive for meth.
Both Nia and Ardi were charged with narcotics abuse under the Narcotics Law, which is punishable by drug rehabilitation or up to four years in prison.
In a press conference on Saturday, Nia conveyed a tearful apology to the public, saying that she did not set a “commendable example.”
Despite their celebrity status, with Ardi also being the son of politician and media tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, Central Jakarta Police Chief Hengki Haryadi said the couple did not receive any special treatment or had some sort of leverage, noting that the charges imposed on them does mandate drug rehab.
Nia, 31, was one of the country’s biggest sinetron stars but has largely given up acting after marrying Ardi in 2010. Since then, Nia has become one of the country’s most renowned socialites, with intense and constant media coverage on her lavish lifestyle and activities.
