American Gets Life via Indonesian Court for Drug Smuggling
An Indonesian district court sentenced an American national to life for carrying 97 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (meth) on Wednesday, November 16.
The Semarang District Court in Central Java found Kamran Muzaffar Malik (aka Philip Russel) guilty in addition to sentenced him to life in prison for smuggling meth together with all 5 Indonesians in addition to two Pakistanis.
The court believed Malik to be the financier of the ‘Pakistani drug network’ who paid Indonesians to help bring the illegal drugs via Guangzhou, China. The ‘goods’ hidden inside generators entered the country through Tanjung Esmas Port. They then stored the generators in a warehouse, which the National Narcotics Agency raided on January 27.
Before the court convicted Malik, the district court had already sentenced two Pakistani members. Ring leader Muhammad Riaz received the death penalty on Monday, while Faiq Akhtar got a life sentence on Tuesday. The prosecutor demanded death for the Pakistanis, however Akhtar’s presiding judge Sartono considered him as an agent only in addition to “not the mastermind of the network.”
Indonesians Citra Kuniawan in addition to Tommy Agung Pratomo also received life, while Restiyadi Sayoko will serve 20 years. Riaz’s wife Peni Suprapti in addition to Didi Triono will spend 18 in addition to 15 years, respectively.
Human Rights Watch Asia Deputy Director Phelim Kine
See: More Than 1.2 Million Indonesians Are right now Using Drugs
Indonesia has one of the harshest capital punishment laws for drug smuggling in addition to trafficking in Asia, although the item’s unclear how many people sentenced to death actually die each year within the archipelago. The most recent execution happened in July involving four drug offenders including three foreign nationals.
These executions have long been criticized by humanitarian organizations with deputy director of Human Rights Watch Asia Phelim Kine calling the item ‘hypocritical within the extreme.’ the item has continued due to the strong support the item receives via President Jokowi, who recently described the rejection of clemency as “shock therapy” for drug dealers in addition to traffickers.
However, This kind of may change within the future. In an interview in early November prior to his trip to Australia, Jokowi said his administration is actually “very open to options” in terms of how the item treats foreign offenders going forward.
Images Credits: Pixabay, Wikimedia
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American Gets Life via Indonesian Court for Drug Smuggling
American Gets Life via Indonesian Court for Drug Smuggling