Nepalese begs court to spare him from death

JAKARTA (JP): A Nepalese man charged with smuggling 1.3 kilograms of first-grade heroin has begged South Jakarta District Court not to give him the death penalty.

Budhe Tamang, 23, told the court Wednesday that his visit to Indonesia was intended to cure a serious lung illness and that, at first, he had no idea about the heroin.

"Please don't sentence me to death because that penalty will mean that I die soon."

Budhe said that the heroin supplier, identified as Ghale, asked him to mind the drugs, telling the defendant that it was just medicine.

Ibrani, Budhe's lawyer, submitted his client's medical records from Norvich Health Care and Research Center, in Katmandu, Nepal, which state that Budhe was undergoing medical treatment there.

He asked the court to allow the Nepalese man to undergo an extensive medical check-up before the verdict is delivered.

Presiding judge Jalius Amin said the state detention center's doctor would decide later whether Budhe needed to be examined at another institution.

Ibrani, during his plea Wednesday, said that prosecutor Sugiyanto could not prove that the heroin was smuggled in or owned by his client.

He said police only found the 143 capsules of heroin hidden in a mattress in Budhe's room at Prapanca Hotel in South Jakarta.

But police were allegedly tipped off by an Englishman, identified as Richard, Ibrani said.

Richard had been sentenced by the same court to six months in jail for using a few grams of heroin.

Police arrested Budhe and his friend, identified as Aita Ram Tamang, at the hotel on April 23.

The court also sentenced Aita to eight months in jail for failing to inform police about the heroin.

Even when brought before the court for the same matter, the amount of heroin at Aita's trial differed from that mentioned at Budhe's.

During Aita's trial, the court said that the heroin amounted to 91 grams. But at Budhe's trial, the amount had jumped to 1.3 kgs. The number of capsules, however, was exactly the same.

When asked to comment on the significant difference, prosecutor Sugiyanto said the correct amount was 1.3 kgs.

"Just ask the prosecutor in Aita's trial about the difference. It was not me," he said. (jun)