Two Nepal nationals sentenced to death
TANGERANG (JP): The Tangerang District Court sentenced on Tuesday two Nepalese nationals to death for drug trafficking in July last year.
The two Nepalese, identified as Nar Bahadur Tamang, 59 and Bala Tamang, 30, went on trial for attempting to smuggle 554 grams of heroin into the country.
In a final hearing presided by judge Satria Us Gumai, it was revealed that the two defendants had swallowed a total of 73 capsules of Imodium which were packed with heroin.
"Bahadur took 56 capsules while the rest were taken by Bala," Judge Satria said.
The two were charged under Narcotics Law No. 22/1997 which carries the death penalty or a maximum of life imprisonment and a fine of Rp 1 billion.
"There are no mitigating circumstances for the two defendants. They show no regret for the wrongdoing and they committed a flagrant violation of the Narcotics Law. They contributed to a crime that ruin the generation of a country," Satria said.
The death penalty shocked the two Nepalese as the prosecutor earlier only demanded a 15-year imprisonment term and Rp 10 million fine for each of them.
Both defendants burst into tears when their lawyer John Kalangit conveyed the verdict to them. John, however, quickly appealed the sentence.
"This is inhumane. My clients are not members of a drug syndicate. They are merely couriers. They did not know that they had swallowed heroin," John said.
The verdict said the two were apprehended on July 29 last year at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport shortly after arriving on a Thai Airways flight from Islamabad, Pakistan.
"The two admitted to having been paid US$1,000 by a man called Som Ali to deliver the drugs by swallowing the heroin packages," it said.
The airport's customs and excise officials arrested the men after being alerted by their suspicious behavior. The two were pale, sweating profusely and refused offers for assistance or a drink.
They were later sent to Kramatjati Police Hospital and given laxatives to discharge the packages, the judge said.
The total of 554 grams of heroin was taken to the National Police Laboratory and sealed as evidence.
Tuesday's death sentence was the first to be imposed on a defendant involved in a drug-related case this year, in the wake of a massive public antinarcotics movement and calls for war against drug users and traffickers.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police have been criticized for the many noncommissioned officers and soldiers involved in drug abuse and trafficking.
The recent arrests of Second Lt. Agus Isrok, a son of former Army chief Gen. Subagyo H.S., for possessing four kilograms of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine), and Pvt. Sofyan, a member of the Jakarta military police, for the possession of 90 grams of heroin were the cause of the widespread skepticism.
President Abdurrahman Wahid and the House of Representatives have called for harsher sentences, including the death penalty, for drug offenders in an attempt to curb the trafficking of banned drugs. (41/edt)