Drug suspect could face 10 years

Drug suspect could face 10 years

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Prosecutors asked the Tangerang District Court on Tuesday to
sentence Lesotho national Ramakau Jonas, alias Npoto, to 10 years
in prison for the possession of 50 grams of heroin.

Prosecutors Faisal Adi and Mulyadi, who read out the
indictment on Tuesday, said the 32-year-old defendant was guilty
of violating Article 78 of Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics.

Police arrested Jonas, who is married to an Indonesian woman
with whom he has a son, in front of a supermarket on Jl. Juanda
in Ciputat, Tangerang, on March 4.

According to prosecutors, police received a tip from a woman
that the defendant would be involved in a drug transaction at 10
a.m. in front of the supermarket.

They said that two detectives observed the defendant and
approached him. In a search, a plastic bag containing a white
powder was found. Laboratory tests later confirmed the powder was
heroin.

"Fortunately, the police officers were able to arrest him
before a transaction took place," the prosecutors said.

Initially, prosecutors charged the defendant under Article 82
of the Law on Narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of
death for drug trafficking.

But they were unable to prove the defendant violated this
article because no transaction had occurred.

Presiding judge Suprapto adjourned the trial until next week
to hear from defense lawyer Dadi Waluyo.

The prosecutors cited the defendant's ignorance of Indonesia's
antidrug campaign and the threat he posed to the nation's young
people as incriminating factors.

The fact that the defendant had no criminal record was
mentioned as a mitigating factor.

Prosecutors also asked that the defendant be fined Rp 1
million (US$101).

Several drug suspects have been sentenced to death by the
Tangerang District Court.