Local drug trial defendant may face life
Local drug trial defendant may face life
JAKARTA (JP): State prosecutor Tengku Zakaria yesterday asked Judge Tuaradja Siregar at the Central Jakarta District Court to sentence Freddy A Thing to life imprisonment for his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
"Your honor I request you sentence defendant Freddy A Thing to life imprisonment since court findings show that the defendant participated in trafficking 29 kilograms of heroin in Indonesia," prosecutor Zakaria said.
The prosecutor said that the crime committed by Freddy, a resident of Bekasi, and his two foreign accomplices endangered the nation's development process and hampered Indonesia's efforts to improve human resources.
The prosecutor acknowledged there were certain factors which could justify lighter punishment for Freddy.
"Freddy is not the main criminal in this case. He has never been involved in illegal drugs before, he regrets his involvement and moreover he was the victim of a foreign drug syndicate," said the prosecutor, who also asked the judge fine Freddy Rp 10 million (US$4,543).
Freddy, 45, looked nervous as the prosecutor read the sentence request statement. He kept his head down during the session while his wife, sitting at the back of the courtroom, could not hold back her tears as she knew her husband, father of their two children, might spend the rest of his life in prison.
Freddy was captured by the police in Hotel Indonesia, Central Jakarta, on May 11, as he and two accomplices, his Thai national cousin Sae Lim Iaw, and Tham Tuck Yin alias A Tjai, a Malaysian, were presenting a sample of the heroin to a potential buyer.
In the previous court session Freddy told the judge that he was involved in the case because Sae Lim Iaw alias Boon Tan, who until January last year he hadn't met for more than 20 years, entrusted him with some valuables.
"Boon Tan and A Tjai visited me in January and entrusted me to watch over his belongings, which they identified only as white delicate things," Freddy said, adding that Boon Tan promised to pick up the goods, which turned out to be heroin, after three days.
The heroin was then stored at Freddy's house on Jl. Patriot in Bekasi.
Freddy said that Boon Tan promised him Rp 100 million if the heroin was sold, and threatened to kill his family if he reported the heroin to the police.
According to Freddy, he later learnt that the heroin was owned by a Thai man named Thamanoon Saepho, who had ordered A Tjai to transport it by small boat to Belawan Port, Medan in North Sumatra before bringing it by bus to the capital.
Freddy said he insisted that Boon Tan and A Tjai remove the heroin from his house but they repeatedly replied, "Not until we find prospective buyers."
Prosecutor Rochayatun Argasasmita requested the judge sentence A Tjai to death last month. The request was granted on Jan. 17, while prosecutor Meity Joseph requested the judge give Boon Tan the same sentence. He was given life imprisonment instead.
The drug raid was the biggest heroin bust in Indonesian history. The second largest drug haul was recorded seven years ago in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, when the police captured a Thai national with 17.7 kilograms of heroin. (mas)