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Chiba (ANTARA News) - An Indonesian woman, Yulia Patricia Rembeth (50), arraigned in the Chiba Prefecture Court on Monday on human trafficking charges, heard the prosecution propose a 40-month jail term, a forced labor stint and a Yen1.5 million fine for her.

Presiding judge Hiko Saka adjourned the court session to March 26 when the court would further question Rembeth, a staffer at the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta.

Public Prosecutor Takagaki said in his arguments, Rembeth had masterminded and planned the smuggling of several Indonesians into Japan in early September last year.

He said Rembeth had carried out the criminal activity systematically and obtained money from the victims.

Takagaki said Rembeth knew much about taking people in and out of a country due to her position in the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta and that she had become a professional people smuggler.

Similar charges had been leveled at another Indonesian, Carrand Christo Tangka (39), who was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment, a forced labor stint and a fine of Y2 million on Monday (Feb 4).

Tangka and Rembeth were both charged with masterminding an operation to smuggle a number of Indonesians into Japan.

Rembeth`s lawyer, Akira Kitamura, meanwhile, said she had worked for the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta for more than 30 years and during the time had never made any mistake.

Rembeth on the occasion expressed her remorse and asked the court not to separate her from her children.

Tangka, an airline cabin attendant, was also described as the mastermind of the people smuggling operation although he claimed he had done it to "help" friends find jobs in Japan.

The court hearing on Monday was also attended by the head of consular affairs at the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo, Radjab Harahap, and other embassy staffers.

The people smuggling case was discovered after five Indonesians were arrested by immigration officers at Tokyo`s Narita airport in September last year for carrying suspicious passports. Three of them proved to be the victims of the human trafficking operation and were sent home in December last year and last January. (*)

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