Judicial review for Nigerian on death row begins

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang District Court began on Thursday the first session of a judicial review requested by death row convict Nigerian Obina Nwajagu.

The review is his last resort after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal.

At Thursday's hearing, Obina, 28, read out his written plea before a panel of judges led by justice Suprapto.

"I swear to God I left Nigeria for Indonesia to look for a job, and I swear that I have never dealt in drugs at all."

The police detained Obina in April 2002 based on a statement from Bunyong Kaosa Ard, a Thai national, who was arrested the same month at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for possession of 45 capsules of heroin, totaling 450 grams, he had smuggled in his stomach.

Ard claimed she was supposed to deliver the heroin to a man called Obina Nwajagu at a room at the Ibis Hotel, Slipi, West Jakarta. During her trial, she said she was promised by a woman named Tata that she would get US$500 after she made the delivery.

Obina testified that he was at the Ibis Hotel at that time to meet a friend, Chris, who promised Obina a job.

"I'd been two months looking for a job in Jakarta. Later, I contacted Chris. He asked me to meet him at a hotel room in Slipi. But, instead of him, a woman opened the door and I saw three men inside who later told me that they were policemen."

"The police said that if the drugs did not belong to me, I must be able to prove that. I was really confused at that time and I could not prove it because I was immediately arrested," he said.

Obina was handed down a death sentence on Oct. 23, 2002 by the Tangerang District Court. He was found guilty of violating Articles 82 and 78 of Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics.

The prosecutors said they would be ready with a response to Obina's statement in a week.