3 drug smugglers sentenced to death

3 drug smugglers sentenced to death

JAKARTA (JP): Judge Asep Iwan Irawan of the Tangerang District
Court handed down the death sentence on Tuesday for defendants
Deni Setya Maharwan, 28, Ranni Andriani, 25, and Merika Franola
alias Ola, 30, for being part of an international drug ring and
attempting to smuggle cocaine out of Indonesia.

"The defendants have been proven in court to be international
drug smugglers. They deserve death sentences," Asep said.

The sentence for defendant Ola was exactly the same as
demanded by prosecutor Mursidi, who had demanded life sentences
for defendants Deni and Ranni.

"The defendants have violated the 1997 Narcotics Law, for
attempting to smuggle cocaine into London," prosecutor Mursidi
said in an early hearing.

Paragraph 1a of Article 82 of Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics
trade and distribution carries the death penalty and a fine of Rp
1 billion.

City Police detectives seized six kilograms of cocaine and
US$3,000 in cash on Jan. 12 from defendant Ranni Andriani, and
five kilograms of cocaine and $3,000 in cash from defendant Deni
Setya Maharwan at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

Both couriers were about to board a London-bound Cathay
Pacific flight via Hong Kong at the time of their arrest.

Prosecutor Mursidi said earlier that defendant Ola had on
several occasions, "ordered the two other defendants, Deni Setya
Maharwan and Ranni Andriani, to bring narcotics from Thailand and
Pakistan into Indonesia."

Deni, who is a former chief of a subdistrict in Cianjur, West
Java, earlier said he went into the trade to pay off debts.
(41/ylt)