Nigerian drug smuggler sent to death row
Nigerian drug smuggler sent to death row
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
The Tangerang District Court handed down another death sentence
on Wednesday; to a Nigerian citizen, Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise,
39, who was convicted of smuggling 1.2 kilograms of heroin into
the country from Pakistan in December.
The court granted the prosecutors' call for the death penalty
but did not fine him the requested Rp 50 million (US$5,434.78).
Clad in a bright blue shirt and dark pants, Nwolise listened
to the verdict expressionlessly. He told his lawyer, Martina Mona
Riang Lubuk, he would appeal the verdict.
Nwolise is the 28th drug trafficker sentenced to death by the
court since January 2000. None of the traffickers sentenced to
death in Tangerang have been executed and six have had their
death sentences commuted to between 15 and 20-year jail terms
after they successfully appealed to higher courts.
Others are still attempting to get lesser sentences by lodging
case reviews with the Supreme Court or by seeking a presidential
pardon.
Presiding judge Soeprapto and members Benar Sihombing and
Yosep Ziraluo convicted the defendant, a resident of Lagos,
Nigeria, under Article 82 of the Law No. 22/1997 on drugs for
transporting the heroin into the country. The article carries a
maximum sentence of death.
Soeprapto said the panel of judges did not find any mitigating
factors that would affect the sentencing.
"The defendant's act of smuggling the drug would destroy the
lives of thousands of young people and tarnish Indonesia's
international image," he said.
Compounding factors were that the defendant showed a fake
passport to immigration officers, lied to the police when being
questioned and was known to be a member of a drug syndicate,
Soeprapto said.
The tough sentence was in contrast to an earlier lesser
sentence request from the prosecutors, who had said Nwolise had
been cooperative during the investigation.
Prosecutor Eben Silalahi said Second Insp. Dedy Murti at the
National Police Headquarters had received a tip-off Nwolise would
transport the heroin on a plane from Pakistan to Jakarta via
Bangkok on Dec. 21, 2003.
Police officers at the airport approached the defendant when
he left the terminal and asked for his identification. The
defendant handed down a passport bearing the name Josphat
Sibanda.
The officers made a body search of the defendant and became
suspicious when they found his stomach was hard and he was
perspiring.
He was taken to a hospital for an X-ray and the result
confirmed his stomach was filled with hard objects. Officers then
gave the defendant medicine to make him defecate.
Over 36 hours, he produced 66 white capsules from his stomach.
Later tests confirmed the capsules contained heroin.
Nwolise testified he had been asked to pass on the drug to
Afianyi in Jakarta by a man called "John" and was promised
US$1,500 for his services. He pled guilty to the charge of
trafficking.
Both John and Afianyi are still at large.
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
The Tangerang District Court handed down another death sentence
on Wednesday; to a Nigerian citizen, Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise,
39, who was convicted of smuggling 1.2 kilograms of heroin into
the country from Pakistan in December.
The court granted the prosecutors' call for the death penalty
but did not fine him the requested Rp 50 million (US$5,434.78).
Clad in a bright blue shirt and dark pants, Nwolise listened
to the verdict expressionlessly. He told his lawyer, Martina Mona
Riang Lubuk, he would appeal the verdict.
Nwolise is the 28th drug trafficker sentenced to death by the
court since January 2000. None of the traffickers sentenced to
death in Tangerang have been executed and six have had their
death sentences commuted to between 15 and 20-year jail terms
after they successfully appealed to higher courts.
Others are still attempting to get lesser sentences by lodging
case reviews with the Supreme Court or by seeking a presidential
pardon.
Presiding judge Soeprapto and members Benar Sihombing and
Yosep Ziraluo convicted the defendant, a resident of Lagos,
Nigeria, under Article 82 of the Law No. 22/1997 on drugs for
transporting the heroin into the country. The article carries a
maximum sentence of death.
Soeprapto said the panel of judges did not find any mitigating
factors that would affect the sentencing.
"The defendant's act of smuggling the drug would destroy the
lives of thousands of young people and tarnish Indonesia's
international image," he said.
Compounding factors were that the defendant showed a fake
passport to immigration officers, lied to the police when being
questioned and was known to be a member of a drug syndicate,
Soeprapto said.
The tough sentence was in contrast to an earlier lesser
sentence request from the prosecutors, who had said Nwolise had
been cooperative during the investigation.
Prosecutor Eben Silalahi said Second Insp. Dedy Murti at the
National Police Headquarters had received a tip-off Nwolise would
transport the heroin on a plane from Pakistan to Jakarta via
Bangkok on Dec. 21, 2003.
Police officers at the airport approached the defendant when
he left the terminal and asked for his identification. The
defendant handed down a passport bearing the name Josphat
Sibanda.
The officers made a body search of the defendant and became
suspicious when they found his stomach was hard and he was
perspiring.
He was taken to a hospital for an X-ray and the result
confirmed his stomach was filled with hard objects. Officers then
gave the defendant medicine to make him defecate.
Over 36 hours, he produced 66 white capsules from his stomach.
Later tests confirmed the capsules contained heroin.
Nwolise testified he had been asked to pass on the drug to
Afianyi in Jakarta by a man called "John" and was promised
US$1,500 for his services. He pled guilty to the charge of
trafficking.
Both John and Afianyi are still at large.