Three get 135-day term for drugs

JAKARTA (JP): The Serang District Court in West Java sentenced yesterday three men found guilty of possessing 11 kilograms of hashish to 135 days in jail, Antara reported.

The verdict was 15 days lighter than that demanded by the prosecution. The news agency said that prosecutor Djauhari Sja'rani had earlier demanded that Edwar Sanjaya, 27, Hanafiah, 25, and Mohamad Muslim, 24, be sentenced to five months in jail.

The panel of judges, presided over by Judge M. Yusran Tawaf, also ordered the defendants to pay a Rp 100,000 (US$28) fine or serve an additional two months in prison.

The three, part of a drug ring that trafficked hashish from Sumatra to Java, especially Jakarta, were arrested in a police raid at the Merak tollgate in West Java, on July 20, 1997.

With the sentence, Edwar Sanjaya, from Jakarta, and his two accomplices from Medan, would need to serve only another 11 days in jail.

The prosecution and the defendants have not yet decided if they will appeal the verdict.

The 1976 law on narcotics stipulates a maximum six years imprisonment and a Rp 10 million fine for possession of hashish, and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment along with a Rp 30 million fine for trafficking hashish.

According to Antara, the same court had recently punished Herman Tanto, 25, to 75 days in prison for the possession and trafficking of 168 Ecstasy pills.

The punishment was one month lighter than that demanded by the prosecution.

The news agency reported that police in the Cilegon precinct spent two months following Tanto before they had enough evidence to arrest him. Tanto resisted arrest and was engaged in a shoot- out with police officers.

The 1996 law on psychotropic drugs stipulates a maximum penalty of 15 years jail term and a maximum of Rp 750 million fine for possession and trafficking psychotropic drugs, including Ecstasy. (swe)