Judge examines heroin smuggled from Thailand
Judge examines heroin smuggled from Thailand
JAKARTA (JP): Judge Tuaraja Siregar examined 29 kilograms of heroin at the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office yesterday as evidence in the trial of Freddy A Thing, a local man allegedly involved in smuggling the contraband.
"I needed to inspect the heroin firsthand because I wanted to see if the defendant, Freddy, would acknowledge it as evidence in this case. The inspection is also necessary in helping to make a verdict," Judge Tuaraja said.
Judge Tuaraja said he had to inspect the drug at the prosecutor's office to maintain the security surrounding "such dangerous court evidence".
"It will be safer if I come here rather than taking the heroin to the court," he said.
The judge denied allegations that the inspection was done because a Jakarta daily reported in December that some of the packages of heroin were missing.
"I have counted each pack by myself," he said, adding that the inspection was merely a routine procedure, which had to be done before the prosecutor's sentencing request session.
Prosecutor Tengku Zakaria is scheduled to read his sentence request on Jan. 24.
During the inspection, the judge asked Freddy if he recognized the heroin and Freddy said yes. He also showed Judge Tuaraja the bags which were used to carry the drug.
The heroin was confiscated by the police during a raid in Hotel Indonesia, Central Jakarta, on May 11 last year. when Freddy and his two foreign accomplices were showing six packs from the 60 packages containing a total of 29 kilograms to a potential buyer.
The other 54 packages of heroin were subsequently discovered at Freddy's house.
Freddy has said in his trial that the heroin was transported to Medan, North Sumatra, from Thailand in January by one of Freddy's friends, Tham Tuck Yin, alias A Tjai, a Malaysian, under the orders of a Thai national named Thamanoon Saepho.
Thamanoon, who is still at large, is believed to be the owner of the heroin.
A Tjai was allegedly ordered by Thamanoon to take a bus to Jakarta with the heroin. He later hid it at Freddy's house in Bekasi.
The heroin was stashed there until May. 11, 1994, when Freddy, A Tjai and Sae Lim Iaw, alias Boon Tan, a Thai national, also believed to be one of Thamanoon's men, took it to Hotel Indonesia and to show to a buyer named A Heng.
A Heng was reportedly an undercover Interpol officer.
It was the biggest heroin bust in Indonesian history. The second largest haul was recorded seven years ago in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, when the police seized 17.7 kilograms of heroin.
On Tuesday, Judge Leo Hutagalung of the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced A Tjai to death. Prosecutor Meity Yosef has requested that the judge punish Boon Tan in the same manner. The verdict will be read next Monday.
During the inspection trip yesterday, Judge Tuaraja said that he has never sentenced anyone to death since he started his career as judge in 1965.
"But I am not against capital punishment because it is included in the Criminal Code," he said.(mas)