African drug convict forges verdict

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