Dutch National Sentenced to 3 Years for Hydroponic Cannabis Cultivation, Health Plea Rejected

The Denpasar District Court panel of judges has sentenced Dutch national Nirul Rashim Abdoelrazak to three years in prison after he was proven to have cultivated and possessed cannabis using a hydroponic system. Presiding judge Imam Lukmanul Hakim stated the defendant was found guilty of committing the criminal act of, without right or against the law, planting, maintaining, possessing, storing, controlling, or providing narcotics category I in plant form. The panel declared the defendant violated Article 111 paragraph (2) of Law Number 35 of 2009 on Narcotics, as per the public prosecutor’s second alternative charge. In addition to the prison sentence, the defendant was also fined Rp510 million, with a subsidiary sentence of 141 days imprisonment. In its considerations, the panel rejected the defendant’s argument that the cannabis was used to support health recovery. However, the defendant’s health condition served as a mitigating factor, resulting in a sentence lower than the public prosecutor’s demand. The prosecutor had previously sought a nine-year prison term. Public Prosecutor I Made Lovi Pusnawan stated he was still considering the verdict, while the defendant and his legal counsel accepted the panel’s decision. Before leaving the courtroom, the defendant requested the return of his mobile phone, citing music scores stored on the device. The panel stated that, based on the court’s decision, the mobile phone was confiscated for the state. The judge explained the defendant could coordinate further with the public prosecutor regarding the evidence, as its execution falls under the prosecutor’s authority after the verdict is read. In the indictment, the prosecutor revealed the defendant cultivated cannabis hydroponically in a house on Jalan Bina Kusuma IV, Banjar Merta Gangga, Ubung Kaja, North Denpasar. The defendant and his wife, Kseniia Varlamuva, occupied the house and, from around March 2025, began preparing facilities to cultivate cannabis indoors. According to the prosecutor, the defendant planted cannabis seeds and tended them until they grew and produced leaves and flowers, which were then stored on the premises. The activity was known to his wife. The case came to light on 1 October 2025 when Bali Police officers arrested the defendant at the house and discovered a number of pieces of evidence related to the cultivation of cannabis.