Partners in crime receive life, 15 years in prison
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
Tangerang District Court sentenced on Thursday Yoseph Ndaaba, 35, a citizen of Lesotho in southern Africa to life imprisonment and fined him Rp 50 million (US$5,882) for possession of 250 grams of heroin.
The same panel of judges at the court also handed down a 15- year sentence and Rp 5 million fine to Indonesian Melani Taurisia Setiyati, 31.
The defendants said they would allow their lawyers Siti Sibarani and Restu Widiyastuti, to decide whether to appeal.
The prison term for Ndaaba was the same as that demanded by prosecutor Puji Rahardjo. However, the fine was lower than the demanded Rp 100 million.
Judge Sitorus said two mitigating factors that lowered the sentences for them (the maximum is death) were that they had apologized to all Indonesian citizens for their transgressions and that they had no previous police record.
He also named several incriminating factors: dishonest testimonies, ignoring the Indonesian government's no-drug campaign and that they were assisting in the destruction of the country's youth.
The prosecutor charged them with violating Article 82 of Law No. 22/1997 on drugs and Articles 55 and 64 of the Criminal Code on organized crimes.
Both carry a maximum penalty of death.
Since 2000, the court has handed down 24 death sentences to drug smugglers, however, none of them have been executed, and at least 4 have had their sentences reduced to life by the Supreme Court.
Melani was arrested by the Tangerang Police at her house in Pamulang on June 11, 2003, following a tip off from her neighbors who suspected that she had frequently been involved in drug transactions at her home.
The police seized 250 grams of heroin from her. She later admitted that the drugs belonged to Ndaaba. Police searched for Ndaaba and later arrested him at a restaurant near the Sarinah department store on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, on June 12.
Melani told the police that she first received 500 grams of heroin from Ndaaba at the Cibitung toll gate in April 2003 and received another 500 grams at Plaza Bintaro in June. The 250 grams seized from her was what was left after selling at least 750 grams of heroin to local junkies in a 2-month span.
Ndaaba, who claimed he was a student in Lesotho and in Indonesia as a tourist, arranged the drug transactions with the customers by himself, while Melani was his courier. She took the heroin from Ndaaba and gave it to their regular customers, who had already placed orders.