Nigerian gets death for smuggling
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post/Tangerang
Tangerang District Court sentenced to death on Wednesday Nigerian Daniel Enemuo alias Diarrassauba Mamadou, 28, for attempting to smuggle 1.150 grams of heroin into the country from Pakistan early in January.
Earlier this month, the same court sentenced Nigerian citizen Silverster Obiekwe Nwolise, 39, to death, for smuggling in 1.2 kilograms of heroin from Pakistan in December.
The court met the prosecutors' demands for the death penalty and a Rp 50 million (US$5,434) fine.
Presiding judge Maha Nikmah said the panel of judges had not found any mitigating factors.
Enemuo, the 29th drug trafficker sentenced to death by the court since January 2000, told his lawyer, Dady Waluyo, that he would appeal the verdict.
The court found Enemuo guilty of violating Article 82 of Law No. 22/1997 on drugs, for transporting illegal drugs.
"The defendant ignored the Indonesian government's antidrug campaign, and his act could destroy the lives of thousands of young people, as well as Indonesia's standing in the international community," Maha said.
Prosecutor Eben Silalahi said Nwolise -- who was arrested on Dec. 21 -- had provided information that led to the arrest of Daniel at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, on Jan. 4.
Police officers apprehended Enemuo as he was about to leave the airport in a taxi. The officers asked for his identification and were given his passport bearing the name of Diarrassauba Mamadou.
The officers took him to hospital where a scan revealed hard objects in his stomach.
The defendant was told to take laxatives to excrete the objects, which were later found to be 65 heroin-filled capsules.
Enemuo said that a man called Jostus had told him to hand the capsules over to another man called Joe in Jakarta, for which he would receive US$2,500. Both Joe and Jostus are still at large.
In his written defense, Enemuo, an elementary school graduate, said that he was not guilty as he had not known the capsules contained heroin.
"I never lied in my life ... Jostus told me that it was only medicine for animals. I was asked to swallow them to avoid customs and excise fees."
To date, none of the traffickers on death row in Tangerang have been executed. Six of them have had their death sentences commuted to jail terms of between 15 and 20 years after appealing to higher courts.