Man gets 32 months for drugs offenses

JAKARTA (JP): A court yesterday sentenced a man caught for possessing illegal drugs to 32 months imprisonment. A prosecutor had earlier demanded a four-year sentence.

Yono, alias Alex, a father of two children, was caught on Dec. 12, 1995 at his friend's home on Jl. Kepu Dalam in Central Jakarta for having three cigarettes made of marijuana leaves and 500 grams of heroin wrapped in a newspaper, prosecutor Erna Idris said in her indictment.

"Yono has been denying his wrongdoings in previous court hearings, saying that he knew nothing of the content of the packaged entrusted to him by a friend, Tam, who remains at large," Judge Sianipar said at the Central Jakarta district court.

"But this is obviously a false statement because a blood test cited residue of the drugs in your blood," Sianipar, who led the team of judges, told him.

The defendant was also told to pay a Rp 100,000-fine.

Both the prosecutor and lawyers said they would contemplate whether or not to appeal. (14)