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.