Drug dealer gets 20 years in prison

The South Jakarta District Court sentenced defendant Dikson Purba to 20 years in prison on Wednesday for illegally possessing and trafficking more than 70 grams of heroin. The court also fined the defendant Rp 150 million (US$16,304).

However, the panel of judges turned down the prosecution recommendation that Dikson be sentenced to death for violating Article 82 of the Psychotropic Substances Law (No. 22/1999).

Presiding judge I Wayan Rena read out the verdict, which stated that the testimony of witnesses and other evidence had shown that the defendant was guilty beyond all reasonable doubt of trafficking narcotics.

Dikson Purba was arrested on Feb. 27 in an operation conducted by the Jakarta Police antidrug squad on Jl. Ciputat Raya, South Jakarta.

During the operation, undercover officers, who had earlier posed as drug buyers, found four packages of heroin -- each containing 3.1 grams of heroin -- on Dikson.

The officers then found another 65.8 grams of heroin at the nearby Hotel Mega Matra, where Dikson had been staying.

The judges also found that the defendant's crimes were detrimental to society and had contributed to an increase in drug addiction and drug-related crime.

The judges, however, also accepted that there were mitigating circumstances in that the defendant had never been convicted of an offense before, had pleaded guilty, had cooperated with the police, and had promised not to reoffend.

Both Dikson's lawyers and prosecutor Yuni Daruindahwati said they were considering appealing against the verdict within the one week time limit set by the court.