South African sentenced to life for drugs

South African sentenced to life for drugs

Agencies, Denpasar, Bali

The Denpasar District Court sentenced a South African man to life
imprisonment on Friday for smuggling heroin into Bali. John
Gabrielle, 37, was found guilty of smuggling and trafficking
heroin.

The verdict came only five days after Gabrielle's accomplice,
Martin Christopher Akujobi, was also sentenced to life in prison.

"(The court) declares the defendant ... guilty of breaking the
law by supplying Class 1 narcotics," presiding judge Linton
Siregar told the Denpasar District Court, as quoted by Reuters
news agency.

The sentence was lighter than that demanded by prosecutors,
who had requested the death sentence.

Gabrielle and Akujobi were arrested in their hotel room in
August last year, shortly after they arrived in Bali from
Jakarta. They were arrested in their hotel room with 2.3
kilograms of pure heroin in their possession.

Responding to Friday's verdict, Gabrielle's lawyer, Christo
Immanuel Dugis, said his client would appeal.

The same court is trying Australian drug suspect Schapelle
Corby, 27, who on Wednesday begged the judges to set her free.

Prosecutors requested the week before that Corby be sentenced
to life in prison for attempting to smuggle 4.1 kilograms of
marijuana into Bali last year. The court is set to announce its
verdict in two weeks.

Corby's trial is being closely watched in Australia. Last
week's arrest of nine other Australians for attempting to
transport nearly 11 kilograms of heroin out of Bali has brought
Bali into the limelight and earned the island a reputation of
being a drug hub for drug couriers.

The recent arrest and spat of court prosecutions indicate that
security personnel are getting tougher on drug traffickers and
users, especially in Bali.