Tangerang court continues to dish out death sentence<\/p>\n
The Tangerang District Court has been consistent in dealing
\nwith drug cases. On Monday, May 25, judges Ade Komarudin,
\nSuhartoyo and P Joseph Ziraulo, handed down the death sentence to
\ndefendant Merri Utami a.k.a Cahyawanti Jurianti, who was arrested
\nfor bringing 1.10 kilos of heroin into the country on Oct. 31,
\n2001, upon her arrival at the Soekarno-Hatta International
\nAirport.<\/p>\n
Merri is the fourth Indonesian woman to receive the death
\nsentence after Meirika Franola, Rani Andriani and Edith Yunita
\nSianturi. The four all had foreign lovers and they were requested
\nto courier drugs from abroad. Merri had just came from Nepal on a
\nSingapore Airlines flight when she was caught red-handed with
\nheroin in her bag.<\/p>\n
The verdict makes it the seventeenth death sentence handed
\ndown by the Tangerang District Court since Jan. 1, 2000, with 12
\ndefendants being foreigners. They were all tried for drug
\nsmuggling and had brought the goods into the country via the
\nairport.<\/p>\n
During the period when the death sentences were passed there
\nhave been some reassignments at the Tangerang District Court,
\nsomething which has confused the judges there. It is considered
\nsomething out of the ordinary that seven of the 14 judges who had
\nhanded down the death sentence, were transferred to other offices
\nin early May even though their services are still needed.<\/p>\n
In fact, the consistency of the judges should be applauded by
\nthe Ministry for Justice and Human Rights as it is in accordance
\nwith the government program. President Megawati Soekarnoputri on
\nvarious occasions has declared a total war on drug trafficking,
\nan activity now rampant in the society. She has even requested
\nofficials in her political party to undergo a drug test so as to
\nprove her commitment.<\/p>\n
In this respect, the hard work and the consistency of all law
\nenforcers is crucial, starting from the arrest up to the
\nprosecution. They must not give in nor give up.<\/p>\n
-- Warta Kota, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tangerang-court-continues-to-dish-out-death-sentence-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }