Hotman Paris questions the death penalty for crew member Fandi: How could he be sentenced to death when he didn't know the contents?
Hotman Paris questions the death penalty for crew member Fandi: How could he be sentenced to death when he didn’t know the contents?
- Screenshot from YouTube TV Parlemen
Jakarta, VIVA – Prominent lawyer, Hotman Paris, believes there is something strange about the death penalty sought by the Public Prosecutor (JPU) against crew member Fandi Ramadhan in the 2-tonne drug case.
According to Hotman Paris, Fandi Ramadhan had only been a crew member for three days.
He made the statement during a Public Hearing with Commission III of the DPR at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta, Thursday, February 26, 2026.
He said that Fandi was hired through an official agency a few days before his arrest.
“He applied to an agency, he applied officially to an agency and was finally accepted, and this agency said that the captain would be this person, but this child never met the captain,” said Hotman Paris during the hearing.
Hotman explained that Fandi only met the captain of the ship before departing for Thailand on May 1, 2025. Fandi was even accommodated in a hotel for 10 days because the ship was not yet ready. He said the crew only boarded the ship on May 14, 2025.
He pointed out that there was an anomaly because the ship he boarded was different from the one stated in the employment contract. In the contract, the ship mentioned was the North Star, while Fandi was instead taken by speedboat to the Sea Dragon.
After sailing for three days, a fishing boat approached the Sea Dragon and unloaded 67 boxes. All crew members were also asked to take turns unloading the boxes.
“And this child (Fandi) kept asking, ‘What is this?’ and the captain admitted it. The captain admitted that it was money and gold,” he said.
He said the ship was supposed to depart from Thailand to the Philippines, but its course instead passed through Indonesian waters and was caught by the BNN (National Narcotics Agency) and Customs in Tanjung Karimun.
“The problem is, how could he be sentenced to death? Because there is no evidence at all that he knew what was inside. He only applied, he had only been on the ship for 3 days as an unemployed person entering the workforce,” said Hotman.