Indonesian judges were called out of the office Thursday to try at the scene smoking ban violators arrested in shopping malls, trade centers and office buildings in the capital city.

The unusual trials marked the beginning of Jakarta administration's tough anti-smoking rules enforcement.

At the Cililitan Grocery Center in East Jakarta, for instance, the city administration set up a makeshift "courtroom" surrounded by a plastic rope at one corner of the crowded market.

More than 30 people were tried at the makeshift courtroom and all agreed to pay a fine of 50,000 rupiah (US$5.5).

"You have violated the smoking ban regulation. You can choose your punishment: a jail sentence of seven days or a fine of 50,000 rupiah," Judge Ahmad Gafar told a man before him.

"I choose to pay 50,000 rupiah, your honor," the defendant replied.

He paid the fine to prosecutors, who then gave him back his seized ID card and a cigarette butt which became the evidence against him.

The city has deployed thousands of special officials tasked with arresting those smoking in restricted areas, including malls, hotels, restaurants, the airport, train and bus stations, offices, schools, playgrounds, hospitals, places of worship and inside public transportation.

But what came as a bigger surprise to the defiant smokers, many of whom had regarded the smoking ban rule as a game of bluff, was the judge attendance at scene.

"My lunch was stolen," 21-year-old Lupi, a staff with of a cellular phone shop, told Detikcom news website after being forced to pay the fine.

The smoking rules also oblige all office buildings and shopping centers in the capital city to provide special smoking areas equipped with exhaust fans.

Violation against this article is punishable by a maximum jail sentence of six months and a fine of up to 50 million rupiah.

A different judge gave a lower fine of 20,000 rupiah to each of the two employees in the Ministry of Transportation for smoking, because the government building they work inside doesn't have the special smoking area.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2006)