Two foreigners get death for drug smuggling<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
Two foreigners received the death sentence on Tuesday for
\nattempting to smuggle 450 grams of heroin from Thailand into the
\ncountry in April this year.<\/p>\n
Defendant Bunyong Khaosa Ard, 45, a Thai woman and Obina
\nNwajagu, 28, a Nigerian man, were found guilty by the Tangerang
\nDistrict Court in two separate sessions presided over by Judge
\nZainal Arifin and two other judges, Maha Nikmah and Suprapto.<\/p>\n
The court said there were no mitigating factors that may have
\nhelped them obtain a lighter sentence.<\/p>\n
The damning factors were that the defendants conducted the
\ncrime amid government's efforts to fight rampant drug abuse and
\nthat the impact of the defendants' deeds could result in the
\ndeath of many of the country's young people.<\/p>\n
The judges also said the defendants had tried to cover up
\ntheir wrongdoing during the court sessions and that they had
\ntainted the image of Indonesia as a target market for drug
\ntrafficking.<\/p>\n
\"We gave the maximum sentences as a deterrent for those who
\nintend to commit drug offenses and in so doing we hope that the
\nnumber of drug traffickers can be reduced,\" Zainal said.<\/p>\n
The court was packed with visitors, including dozens of
\nreporters from newspapers, TV and radio, and 18 candidate judges
\nfrom the Ministry of Justice and Human Right's training center.<\/p>\n
Both defendants, however, seemed very relaxed and calm despite
\nthe harsh verdict.<\/p>\n
Zaim Affandi of the Thai embassy, who acted as interpreter for
\nArd, said that he had already told Bunyong that she would be
\nsentenced to death, like eight other Thai people who had earlier
\nreceived capital punishment in Tangerang, Jakarta and in Tanjung
\nGusta, North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The defendants' defense lawyers Horas Sirait and Alisati
\nSiregar said they would appeal to the high court while
\nprosecutors M. Adam and Martha P. Berliana said they would think
\nover whether or not to appeal the verdict.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the prosecutors sought life imprisonment for the two
\ndefendants.<\/p>\n
The defendants were charged with violating Article 82 and
\nArticle 78 of Law No. 22\/1997 on drugs, which carry a maximum
\npunishment of death.<\/p>\n
Ard, a single mother, worked as a food vendor in Bangkok to
\nfeed her two children after her husband left them. She arrived at
\nthe Soekarno-Hatta International Airport terminal D at 2 p.m. on
\nApril 6 aboard Thai Airways flight TG-433.<\/p>\n
Customs and excise officers became suspicious of her since
\nshe claimed to be a tourist but was wearing shabby clothes.<\/p>\n
The officers found nothing in her luggage, but they remained
\nsuspicious as she looked nervous and confused and was perspiring
\nprofusely. She was then asked to undergo an examination
\nthat showed there were foreign objects in her stomach.<\/p>\n
Ard was then given some medicine and three hours later she
\nexpelled the 45 capsules. A narcotest result confirmed that the
\ncapsules were filled with heroin.<\/p>\n
She confessed that she had planned to deliver the drugs to
\nObina Nwajagu, who was later arrested in room 512 at Hotel Ibis
\nin Slipi, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Ard testified that she was asked by a woman to deliver the
\ndrugs to Obina in Jakarta and was promised US$500 after she
\nreturned to Thailand.<\/p>\n
Since January 2000, the Tangerang District Court has sentenced
\nto death 20 other drug traffickers comprising five Indonesians,
\nfive Nigerians, five Nepalese, two Thai women, a Pakistani man, a
\nZimbabwean and a Malawian.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/two-foreigners-get-death-for-drug-smuggling-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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