Accompanied by Hotman Paris, Mother of Sea Dragon Crew Member Facing Death Sentence Seeks Justice from the DPR
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Nirwana, the mother of the defendant in the case of smuggling nearly 2 tons of methamphetamine on the Sea Dragon ship, visited Commission III of the DPR RI on Thursday, February 27, 2026.
Together with her lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, they came to seek justice for the death sentence sought against her son, Fandi Ramadhan.
To Commission III of the DPR RI, Hotman said that Fandi was a crew member who had only worked for three days when the ship was apprehended.
“The essence of the case is that this woman’s son… had only been on the ship for three days as an unemployed person starting a job. The problem is, how can he be sentenced to death when there is absolutely no evidence that he knew what was inside?” Hotman said during a public hearing (RDPU) of Commission III of the DPR RI, Thursday, February 27, 2026.
According to him, Fandi only met the ship’s captain for the first time on May 1 when he was brought by his mother. After that, Fandi left for Thailand and waited for 10 days in a hotel because the ship he was promised was not ready.
“According to the contract, the ship was supposed to be named Nonstar. But then he was taken on a speedboat and brought to the Sea Dragon. So, the ship he applied for was different from the one he ended up on,” Hotman revealed.
He said that three days after being on the ship, a fishing boat arrived and unloaded 67 boxes, which were then loaded onto the ship in relays by all the crew.
Hotman said that Fandi repeatedly asked the captain about the contents of the boxes. But the captain said that the boxes contained money and gold.
“And this woman’s son kept asking, ‘What is this?’ And the captain admitted it. The captain admitted that it was money and gold,” Hotman said.
The ship was then apprehended by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and Customs in the waters of Tanjung Balai Karimun while traveling from Thailand to the Philippines.
Hotman then questioned the logic of the death sentence against Fandi, who he believes had no knowledge of the drug cargo.
Meanwhile, Nirwana said that her son had initially applied to work on a cargo ship, not a tanker, which was later used.
“My son applied to a ship in Thailand, it was a cargo ship that was offered. Suddenly, when he arrived in Thailand, he was put up in a hotel and waited there,” said Nirwana.