The guilty verdict against the three couriers — identified as Yusra Nurdin, Subqi, and Rojali -- was pronounced by a panel of judges from the court. It was read out by chief judge Victor Togi during a virtual trial hearing.
The punishment that the panel of judges awarded was lighter than that sought by public prosecutors Noraida Silalahi and Zuhdi, who had demanded the death penalty.
The three drug couriers, who originally resided in Aceh Province, were apprehended during a drug raid in Jambi Province on August 12, 2019.
The couriers had taken the marijuana packages from someone in the Salimun neighborhood of Banda Aceh city and were transporting them on two cars when they were intercepted at the Trans-Sumatra road section KM 155 in Tanjung Bojo Village, Batang Asam Subdistrict, Tanjung Jabung District.
Indonesia remains under grave threat from drug dealers, with several individuals from its working-age population embroiled in the vicious circle of drug abuse.
According to a report from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), around 50 drug use-related deaths occur in Indonesia everyday. However, the deaths have failed to deter other drug users in the country.
Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other addictive drugs transcend communities and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
Indonesia is perceived by both domestic and transnational drug dealers as a potential market due to its huge population and millions of drug users. The drug trade in the country is estimated to be nearly Rp66 trillion.
In face of the grave threat posed by drug lords, on December 5, 2019, BNN Chief Commissioner General Heru Winarko had held discussions with Security Minister Mahfud MD on matters pertaining to Indonesia's war on drugs, including the need to execute death row convicts.
"Capital punishment is part of the laws that should be imposed," Winarko had said following his meeting with the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs. (INE)
Related news: Jambi BNN arrests four, confiscates 4.9-kg meth, 1,400 ecstasy pills
Related news: Indonesia's narcotics agency seizes two million pills in West Java
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Translator: Nanang M, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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