Court sentences Malawian to life for heroin smuggling

Court sentences Malawian to life for heroin smuggling

TANGERANG, Banten (JP): Tangerang District Court sentenced on
Tuesday a Nigerian to life imprisonment for attempting to smuggle
one kilogram of heroin into the country from Pakistan.

Presiding judge Warsito declared that the defendant, Namaona
Denis, 35, from Malawi, Africa, was convicted of smuggling a
kilogram of heroin into the country through Soekarno-Hatta
Airport in April.

Economic hardship and a lack of knowledge of Indonesian law
were regarded as the main mitigating factors in sentencing the
defendant to life imprisonment, Warsito said.

The court sentenced two Nepalese, Nar Bahadur Tamang and Bala
Tamang, in January last year to death for smuggling 554 grams of
heroin from Thailand.

The court also handed down death penalty on Aug. 13 to Hansen
Anthony, a Nigerian, and Ozias Sibanda, a Zimbabwean, who
smuggled 600 and 850 grams of heroin into the country from
Pakistan.

When asked why the panel of judges did not mete out a death
penalty to Denis, who had smuggled in more heroin than the other
three defendants, Warsito noted that the death penalty was found
to be no longer effective in curbing drug trafficking.

Earlier, prosecutor Victor Silitonga charged the defendant
with violating Article 82 of Law No. 22/1997 on drugs. The
article carries a maximum punishment of death.

Victor said the defendant accepted a proposal from a man named
Haifan at the Hotel Embassy in Pakistan on April 11 to deliver
the heroin to Abidjan in West Africa.

"But since the defendant had a visa for Indonesia and Haifan
happened to have an acquaintance in West Kalimantan, he changed
his mind and ordered the defendant to bring the heroin to
Indonesia," Victor said.

The defendant who said he was promised US$3,000 should he
succeed in delivering the heroin to a man in Pontianak, then
swallowed 73 capsules containing the heroin, before boarding
Singapore Airlines flight SQ152 in Karachi and flying to
Indonesia.

As he arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on April
15, customs and excise officers became suspicious when they
noticed the defendant acting nervously and perspiring heavily.
The officers handed Denis over to a medical team.

Further examination at the airport's Medika Center Hospital
revealed that there were strange objects in the defendant's
stomach. The defendant was made to defecate four times on April
16, resulting in the evacuation of 73 capsules.

Victor then demanded that the district court sentence the
defendant to life imprisonment on Aug. 17.

Commenting on his punishment, Denis said that the punishment
did not mean anything to him since it was equal to the
prosecutor's demand.

"I think the punishment is still too strong. I want the
lawmaking body to realize that foreigners do not clearly
understand the law governing drugs in Indonesia," he told The
Jakarta Post from the holding cell at the court.

He said based on his visits to Saudi Arabia, Singapore and
China, all foreigners are informed about the death penalty for
drugs before landing in the country.

Denis said he was unsure whether or not to accept the sentence
or appeal to the Supreme Court. (41)