ABK Fandi Ramadhan Sentenced to Five Years’ Imprisonment, DPR Commission III: Judges Guided by the New Penal Code

The head of Indonesia’s House of Representatives Commission III, Habiburokhman, welcomed the Batam District Court’s decision not to impose the death penalty on Fandi Ramadhan, a crew member (ABK) of the Sea Dragon, who faced charges of smuggling 2 tonnes of methamphetamine. He argued that, under Article 98 of the new Penal Code (KUHP), capital punishment is not the default option and is the last resort. ‘The panel of judges also followed the paradigm in the new KUHP that prioritises substantive and rehabilitative justice,’ Habiburokhman said in a written statement on Friday, 6 March. He said he respects the defendant or his legal team’s efforts to secure Fandi’s acquittal, arguing that Fandi is not guilty. Nevertheless, he stressed that his side could not intervene technically in the case. He added that he would summon police investigators and prosecutors to ensure Fandi’s rights are upheld during the legal process. ‘We will continue to summon investigators and prosecutors in this case to question whether the rights of the suspect or the convicted person have been met from the time the case was investigated to yesterday’s verdict,’ he said.

Earlier, the Batam District Court handed down a five-year prison sentence to Fandi Ramadhan, the crew member on the Sea Dragon, in connection with the smuggling of 2 tonnes of methamphetamine in Batam, on Thursday, 5 March. In its verdict, the panel also set out aggravating and mitigating factors affecting Fandi’s sentence. ‘The aggravating circumstance is the large amount of the narcotic, methamphetamine, presented as evidence in the case—nearly 2 tonnes—which could, if circulated in Indonesia, severely damage the future of the nation’s youth,’ the judge said at Batam District Court. In addition, Fandi was deemed not to have supported government programmes to combat the illicit drug trade. Conversely, the mitigating factors noted by the court include Fandi’s polite conduct during the proceedings and the absence of any prior convictions. ‘The accused is still young and is hoped to reform his conduct in the future,’ the judge added. (H-4)

Fandi Ramadhan, the Sea Dragon ABK, escaped a death sentence in the 2-ton meth case in the Riau Islands. The Batam District Court handed down a five-year prison term. The state must ensure that the investigative and trial process proceeds objectively and free from criminalisation.

Chairman of Commission XIII of the DPR, Willy Aditya, criticised the death-sentence demand against Fandi Ramadhan, the Sea Dragon crew member, in relation to the 2-ton drug trafficking case in the waters off Tanjung Balai Karimun. Prosecutors based their request for the death penalty on the assertion that Fandi failed to refuse or inspect cargo that was found to contain methamphetamine. Chairman of Commission III, Habiburokhman, reminded Batam’s District Court that the death penalty is an option under the new KUHP, in relation to the 2-ton meth case involving an ABK.

A joint SAR (Search and Rescue) team successfully evacuated one crew member of the KOOL ICE who was suffering a heart problem in the Bali waters, on Friday, 27 February. The Supreme Court (KY) stated it was ready to monitor the trial in the case of the alleged 2-ton meth smuggling, in which a Kepri ABK was facing a death penalty. The arrest of Fandi Ramadhan, the ABK from Medan, North Sumatra, does not automatically close the case. Member of the DPR Commission III, Aboe Bakar Alhabsyi, emphasised the importance of pursuing the intellectual actors behind the Sea Dragon drug smuggling operation.

‘The search continues for the missing victims; adverse weather in the waters makes the search more difficult,’ he said.