Pakistani sentenced to death for drug smuggling

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang District Court sentenced a Pakistani national to death on Tuesday, bringing to 25 the number of foreigners sent to death row by the court for drug trafficking since 2000.

However, the court gave his Indonesian girlfriend, who was found guilty of assisting him in the crime, a life sentence and a Rp 100 million (US$10,500) fine.

Zulfiqar Ali, 42, from Lahore, Pakistan, was found guilty of trying to traffic 300 grams of heroin through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Surabaya on Aug. 28, 2004.

Ali, arrested along with his girlfriend, Ginong Pratidina, 29, was a member of an international narcotics syndicate, presiding judge Suprapto said.

"There are no mitigating factors that could lead to sentence reduction as what you intended to do could have destroyed the lives of thousands of the nation's young people," Suprapto told the couple, who were tried together.

Clad in similar white shirts and black jeans, Ali and Ginong, who is a school teacher and resident of Teluk Pucung subdistrict, North Bekasi, said they would appeal.

The sentence handed down to Ali was harsher than the life sentence sought by prosecutor Aman Hutagaol, while Ginong's was the same as had been sought by the prosecution.

The court found the pair guilty of violating the Narcotics Law (No. 22/1997), which carries a maximum sentence of death.

The two were arrested in Ciampea, Bogor, West Java, on Nov. 22 based on information provided by Indian citizen Gurdip Singh, 37, who was sentenced to death by the Tangerang court in February for drug possession.

Singh was arrested in possession of 300 grams of heroin on July 29, 2004, when he was about to board a flight to Surabaya. He later told the court that he had received the heroin from Ali, who promised to pay him $2,000 after delivering it to a man called Toni in Malang, East Java. Toni is still at large.

The Tangerang court, long known for its severity in dealing with drug trafficking cases, has sentenced a total of 32 drug smugglers (Indonesians and non-nationals) to death, but none of them have been executed as they have yet to exhaust all legal avenues available before their death sentences are carried out.