Seeking Justice for Sea Dragon Crew Member: Hotman Paris Steps In, Family Pleads at Parliament
JAKARTA - Efforts to seek justice for Sea Dragon crew member (ABK) Fandi Ramadhan, who faces a death sentence in a drug smuggling case involving nearly 2 tonnes of methamphetamine, were prominent during a parliamentary hearing at Commission III of the Indonesian Parliament on Thursday, 27 February 2026.
Fandi’s lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, along with the defendant’s mother Nirwana, appeared directly before Parliament to present a timeline that, according to them, demonstrates that Fandi was unaware of the narcotics cargo aboard the vessel.
Hotman emphasised that Fandi had only worked as a crew member for three days when the ship was apprehended by authorities.
“The crux of the case is that this young man… had only been aboard the ship for three days as an unemployed person entering work. The problem is, how can he be sentenced to death when there is no evidence whatsoever that he knew what was inside?” Hotman stated during the hearing at the Parliament building.
However, upon arriving in the destination country, the promised ship did not materialise, forcing him to wait for 10 days in a hotel.
“According to the contract, the ship was supposed to be named Nonstar. Unexpectedly, he was transported by speedboat and taken to the Sea Dragon. So the ship mentioned in the job application was different,” said Hotman.
He also explained that three days after Fandi boarded the vessel, a fishing boat arrived and lowered 67 cardboard boxes, with all crew members being instructed to load them in a relay fashion.
Hotman noted that Fandi repeatedly asked the ship’s captain about the contents of the boxes. However, the captain claimed the boxes contained gold and money without showing their contents to Fandi.
“This young man repeatedly asked, ‘What is this?’ And this was acknowledged by the captain. The captain admitted that it was money and gold,” he said.
Hotman then questioned the logic of imposing a death sentence on his client who had only worked aboard the ship for 3 days. Moreover, there is no evidence that his client knew about the nearly 2 tonnes of methamphetamine aboard the vessel.
“If a ship’s captain departed for Thailand to transport 2 tonnes of drugs worth approximately 4 trillion rupiah, is it possible that the drug owner doesn’t know this captain? Is it possible he would entrust 4 trillion rupiah to someone he had just met? That’s the illogic we’re talking about,” he said.