African drug convict forges verdict

An African drug convict forged a 1998 Supreme Court verdict in the hope of gaining early release but failed to do so after prison officials discovered the fraud attempt.

Coordinator of Penitentiaries at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Widiyatno told police investigators on Thursday that the convict, Kofi Frimpong, presented the fake copy of the verdict to the Semarang prison warden. According to the forgery, he had been sentenced to six-years imprisonment and was due to be released in April, whereas in reality he had been sentenced to ten-years imprisonment.

"Last month, Frimpong contacted the Semarang Penitentiary warden and stated that he was to be released in April this year," Widiyatno said.

The Semarang prison warden later contacted the Cipinang Penitentiary warden, who in turn contacted the Supreme Court. According to the Supreme Court records, Frimpong had been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

The Semarang Penitentiary then reported the matter to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, which immediately ordered the transfer of the convict to Cipinang Penitentiary for "security reasons", and reported the incident to the Jakarta Police.

"We do not know how this man faked the verdict," Widiyatno said.

Frimpong was sentenced to 10 years in jail for drug trafficking.

Widiyatno told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that Frimpong was originally incarcerated in Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta but was transferred to Semarang Penitentiary following arson and rioting in Cipinang Penitentiary in March 2001.

All documents and court files held by the Cipinang Penitentiary authorities were burned during the arson attack. =- JP