Drug convict Agus Isrok still in the Army

JAKARTA (JP): Drug convict Second. Lt. Agus Isrok of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) has been deemed to have accepted the Jakarta Military High Court's verdict of last month, which reduced his jail sentence and reinstated him as an Army officer, the Supreme Court director for military crimes said on Tuesday.

Col. (ret) P. Panjaitan said Agus had failed to inform the court as to his acceptance or rejection of the high court's verdict within the 14-day period allowed to him, since the verdict was issued by the Jakarta Military High Court on Nov. 24.

With the deadline elapsing on Dec. 8 and with no news having been heard from Agus, Panjaitan said the Supreme Court officially considered Agus to have accepted the verdict.

"In any case, it's illogical that he (Agus) would dare to appeal the case.

"After all, the Jakarta Military High Court verdict reduced his jail sentence to two years and allowed him to return to his corps," Panjaitan told The Jakarta Post.

Kopassus spokesman Col. Herindra added that he too had not been informed of Agus' decision.

"I just met him yesterday (Monday) and he said that his lawyers were still processing the necessary documents. He did not say anything about accepting the verdict or an appeal," Herindra told the Post.

A military court discharged Agus from the Army on June 22, in addition to sentencing him to four years in prison and fining him Rp 10 million (US$1,052).

Agus, the eldest son of former Army chief Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo and an active member of Kopassus Group IV for intelligence operations in Cijantung, East Jakarta, was found guilty by the military court of possessing narcotics and psychotropic substances on Aug. 8 last year.

"The defendant's actions directly contradicted everything that a soldier should stand for. He has disgraced the name and image of the Army, and Kopassus in particular," presiding judge Col. Sarman Mulyana said when delivering the verdict last June.

"He is unfit to be a soldier. If he were to remain a soldier, the court fears that he would repeat his crime. Therefore, the court discharges him from all military duties as an additional punishment to his four-year prison term."

The defendant was convicted of violating Article 78 (1) of Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, and Article 62 of Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic substances, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail.

Agus, 25, spent his jail term in a cell at Jakarta Military Police Headquarters in South Jakarta. (01/ylt)