Police want drug bill to introduce minimum penalty
LONDON (JP): The chief of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata, wants members of the House of Representatives working on the bill on psychotropic drugs, to introduce a minimum penalty for Ecstasy offenders.
Hamami said that he conveyed the idea during a meeting in Jakarta with House members recently.
"We have learned that charging offenders with a maximum term has only brought comfort to them because they know they could be jailed for as little as one day. Therefore a minimum penalty is needed," Hamami told The Jakarta Post during his visit to the London Metropolitan Police headquarters last week.
"By having both minimum and maximum terms of punishment, we hope that anyone charged with Ecstasy dealing will have to go to jail," the two-star general said.
Hamami, however, gave no details of his idea. "The point here is that there must be a minimum penalty," he said. "Let the House members discuss it further especially on how long the minimum jail term should be."
The bill on psychotropic drugs covers Ecstasy, its producers, distributors, importers and exporters.
According to the bill, anyone convicted of the above activities faces a maximum jail term of 20 years and a maximum fine of Rp 500 million (US$212,765) each.
Those found possessing any psychotropic substances are liable to get a maximum jail term of 10 years and a Rp 200 million fine.
Critics have frequently said that many drug abusers and traffickers arrested by the police have escaped punishment because Indonesia currently does not have laws covering the abuse and trafficking of psychotropic substances such as Ecstasy.
To date police have resorted to using a 1949 Law on Dangerous Drugs, the 1992 Health Law No. 23 and Article 204 of the Criminal Code, which deals with the supply of dangerous drugs.
Those found guilty of breaking the laws are subject to between seven years and life in prison or a fine of between Rp 140 million and Rp 300 million (US$130,434).
Mixed reaction
Hamami's idea has been greeted with a mixed reaction from House members assigned to complete the soon-to-be-approved draft law on psychotropic substances.
"The idea is very bright and we're still discussing whether we could also include a minimum sentence in the bill," Rustandi, vice chairman for the House committee for legal affairs, told the Post in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, over the weekend.
Rustandi was in Amsterdam leading 12 House members and two representatives from the Ministry of Health on a trip to make a comparative study on how Dutch laws are enforced in fighting drug abuse. The Indonesian entourage also learned how the Dutch government handles Ecstasy traffickers, producers and consumers.
During their four-day visit, the House members were received by Dutch officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, health, and immigration.
Sharing his opinion, another House member Palar Batubara said Hamami's idea has been a subject of serious discussion.
"Without describing the minimum term in the bill, convicted criminals might have the chance -- via their lawyers -- to settle the case out of court through invisible collusion," said Batubara, who will chair an intensive discussion on the bill in Jakarta starting Nov. 11. The bill is scheduled to be passed into law in January next year.
"However, it would take extra time for us (the team) to put a minimum penalty in the bill because we would also have to describe the minimum amount of evidence," he said.
Another House member in the team, who refused to be named, said; "Hamami's idea is unacceptable."
He cited the existing law on narcotics which does not describe a minimum punishment for offenders. (bsr)