Thai woman gets death penalty for drug smuggling

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A 21-year-old Thai masseuse was sentenced to death for smuggling 600 grams of heroin from Thailand into the country last September.

Presiding Judge Prim Haryadi said that the defendant, Nonthanam M. Saichon, a resident of the small town of Kalasin in the northern part of Thailand, had been proven guilty of smuggling the drugs through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

He said the court could see no mitigating circumstances, especially as drug trafficking was endangering the nation.

The death penalty was unexpected as prosecutor Harun Harahap had earlier asked the court to impose a life sentence.

Clad in a long-sleeved white shirt and dark pants, the sallow complexioned, short haired defendant sat with her head bowed during the trial. When the panel of judges asked whether she accepted the sentence or would appeal, she merely shook her head.

"I don't understand," said Nonthanam, who could not speak English well and did not speak Indonesian.

The verdict was delivered in Indonesian and later interpreted into English.

Outside the courtroom the defendant cried after an official from the Thai Embassy told her about the verdict.

The court gave the defendant one week to consider whether or not to appeal.

The defendant is currently being detained in the Tangerang Women's Penitentiary.

In November, a prison guard found another 250 grams of heroin in a sex aid that she had in her handbag.

The latest find of heroin, however, was not included in the indictment. The case is still being handled by Tangerang Police.

Saichon told The Jakarta Post that the police had also confiscated US$350 belonging to her.

"Please, tell the police, I want my money back. I earned the money by working as a masseuse for six months," she said.

Since 2000, the district court has sentenced 16 drug smugglers to death, comprising five Nepalese, four Nigerians, four Indonesians, a Pakistani, a Malawian and a Zimbabwean.