Death penalty sought for French national
Death penalty sought for French national
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): State prosecutors demanded on Friday that
the Denpasar District Court hand down the death penalty to a
French national for trying to smuggle 3.8 kilograms of hashish
into the island of Bali.
It was the first time the death penalty had been demanded over
a drug trafficking case in Bali.
Prosecutors Anak Agung Gede Satya M, IB Dwiantara and Tjokorda
Rai Suamba told the hearing, presided over by Judge Ni Nyoman
Mariati, that Michael Loic Blanc, 32, was guilty of illegally
carrying 3.8 kilograms of hashish on Dec. 26, 1999.
"The defendant was arrested by a joint-team of security
officers at the Ngurah Rai International Airport at 3:25 p.m.
local time after the X-Ray scanner picked up two scuba tanks in
one of his cases. Suspicious, and after checking that the tanks
were empty of oxygen, the officers drilled into the steel tubes
and found 189 small rolls and 178 packs of hashish with a total
weight of 3.85 kilograms," prosecutor Anak Agung Gede Satya M
said.
Blanc had flown on Garuda Indonesia from India via Bangkok to
Denpasar at the time when he was apprehended.
According to the prosecutor in his summing up, aggravating
factors included the fact that the defendant had tried to smuggle
a large quantity of hashish and that the government had been
working seriously to curb drug trafficking. "Another aggravating
factor is the fact that Bali has become a lucrative market for
narcotics."
Blanc had earlier claimed that the scuba tanks belonged to his
friend Philip, who lived in Bombay, India. He said during police
questioning that he knew nothing about the hashish, claiming that
he had used the tanks for diving several times in India.
The defendant said he had spent 15 days in India before flying
to Bali.
Defense lawyer Dwi Surya Hadi Budi told reporters after the
session that the prosecutors could not prove that the scuba tanks
and the hashish belonged to his client.
The hearing was adjourned until Nov. 6 to hear defense
arguments. (zen/sur)