Rock star charged with drug possession

Olga J.: photo - wikipedia

Olga J. (publication of full name not permissible under Polish law) was initially detained in June, after a sniffer dog singled out a parcel that had been sent from the US.

The parcel contained 60 g of marijuana, and during the subsequent search of the singer's Warsaw flat, a further amount was located (3 g)

Earlier this year, the singer criticised the current laws on drug possession in an interview with Polish weekly Wprost.

“If the state is allowed to penalize the possession of marijuana, it will continue to use its powers to the highest degree possible, as it is easier to arrest some young individual smoking pot, rather than real criminals,” she said.

“I don’t drink alcohol, but if I had the possibility - and I don’t - I would gladly smoke marijuana,” she said.

Shortly afterwards, a parcel addressed to her pet dog Ramona was on its way to Warsaw from the US.

Olga J. is best known under the pseudonym of Kora as the lead singer of 1980s punk band Maanam.

The punk movement in Poland, which clashed with Poland's communist authorities, has enjoyed a renaissance of interest over the last two years, in the wake of the award-winning documentary Beats of Freedom (2009). (nh)