Nigerian drug dealer gets 7 years in jail

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta District Court sentenced a Nigerian man yesterday to seven years in jail and fined him Rp 1 million for trafficking 80 grams of heroin.

Presiding judge Madnyono said the defendant, Isfaya Ede, alias Ciko, 22, was found guilty of asking an accomplice, identified as Koreri Suwage, to sell the heroin.

"The defendant knew that heroin deals were forbidden in both this country and his country. The defendant also knew that the heroin could ruin the lives of youngsters."

Madnyono said the mitigating factors for the panel of judges were that the defendant was still young, he was polite during the trial and had never been involved in crime before.

He said police arrested Ciko at Sogo department store on Jl. MH Thamrin on May 8 last year after shooting him in his left leg for resisting arrest.

Police also seized a passport under another man's name from the defendant.

Ciko's arrest was made possible after police received a tip- off from Koreri Suwage, Madnyono said. Suwage was arrested on May 7 in a dormitory on Jl. KH Mas Mansur.

Suwage told police that the heroin belonged to Ciko, who had asked him to sell the drug for Rp 160,000 per gram, he said.

Madnyono said police asked Suwage to arrange a meeting with the defendant and they gave Suwage a bag of money.

He then left a message on Ciko's pager stating that the heroin had been sold and asking Ciko to meet him at the department store.

The defendant was charged under Article 23 (5) of Law No. 9/1976 which carries the death penalty.

Prosecutor Usman earlier asked the court to sentence the defendant to 10 years in jail and fine him Rp 1.5 million.

Both Usman and Ciko will appeal the judge's decision.

"If I was sentenced because I used another person's passport I can accept the sentence. But if I was sentenced because of the heroin, I could not accept it," Ciko, who was not represented by a lawyer, said.

The defendant denied the allegations in the police dossier, saying that he was forced to sign it or be beaten by investigators.

He claimed that he only knew about the heroin once at Jakarta Police Headquarters.

Madnyono said the dossier was still valid because there was no evidence that Ciko had been forced to sign it.

Usman said earlier that Ciko had attempted to escape from a hospital while undergoing treatment for his leg injury.

The trial was postponed after Ciko asked the court to allow him to be treated at the hospital. (jun)