Heroin courier gets death sentence<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
A 24-year-old woman cried hysterically as a Jakarta court
\nsentenced her to death for attempting to smuggle one kilogram of
\nheroin from Thailand.<\/p>\n
\"Aduh, mama, I don't want to die, Mama. I am not guilty, I was
\ndeceived by the black man, Mama, I knew nothing Mama, please help
\nme Mama...,\" defendant Edith Yunita Sianturi shouted as she
\nrolled on the floor of the Tangerang District Court on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Maha Nikmah said that the defendant, a
\nresident of Jl. Wijaya Kusuma IX, Pancoran district of Depok,
\nWest Java, was found guilty of smuggling the drug into the
\ncountry through the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on June
\n4 this year.<\/p>\n
Nikmah said that there was no mitigating factors to give her a
\nlighter sentence since the impact of the crime could endanger the
\nnation's future and could kill thousands of people.<\/p>\n
Clad in a long-sleeve white shirt and long black skirt, Edith,
\na former cosmetic counter sales girl at Pasar Raya Sarinah, bowed
\nher head during the hearing but became hysterical as the sentence
\nwas red out in front of a packed gallery.<\/p>\n
One of her relatives watching proceedings also began crying
\nloudly.<\/p>\n
Four officers from the prosecutors' office helped Edith to her
\nfeet and carried her to the waiting minivan.<\/p>\n
However, Edith continued crying and screaming in the minivan.
\n\"Help me please, Mrs. Prosecutor, I don't want to die,\" she
\nbegged prosecutor Siti Zahara, who also accompanied her to the
\nminivan.<\/p>\n
\"You can still appeal to the high court,\" Zahara replied as
\nthe minivan took Edith back to the Tangerang Women's Penitentiary
\nwhere she was being held.<\/p>\n
Over the past two years, the district court has sentenced to
\ndeath 14 out of 15 defendants in similar cases.<\/p>\n
The only drug smuggler to get life imprisonment, Malawian
\nNamaona Dennis, sentenced in September last year, appealed his
\nsentence to the high court, which last week sentenced him to
\ndeath instead.<\/p>\n
The other 14 defendants were four Nigerians, five Nepalese, a
\nPakistani, a Zimbabwean and three Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Despite the harsh sentences, the number of abusers continues
\nto increase, because the law enforcers do not prosecute major
\ndrug traffickers.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Siti Zahara earlier charged the defendant with
\nviolating Article 82 of the law No 22\/1997 on drugs and asked the
\ncourt to give her life imprisonment and pay a Rp 100 million
\nfine.<\/p>\n
The Article carries a maximum punishment of death.<\/p>\n
According to the prosecutor, the defendant was working as a
\nsales promotion girl for the Poppy Dharsono cosmetics counter at
\nPasar Raya Sarinah in Manggarai, South Jakarta when a Nigerian
\nnamed Abu William introduced himself.<\/p>\n
Several months later, William proposed to Edith, but her
\nmother rejected the offer.<\/p>\n
Edith then fled home and lived in a boarding house with her
\nNigerian lover who later asked her to hand over US$4,000 cash to
\nhis friend called Brother in Thailand in May this year.<\/p>\n
After spending one week in Thailand, Edith then flew to
\nJakarta on Thai Airways flight TG 413 and arrived at the airport
\non June 4.<\/p>\n
Custom and excise officers found three brown packets
\ncontaining one kilogram of pure heroin in her purse.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/heroin-courier-gets-death-sentence-1447893297",
"image": ""
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