The guilty verdict that presiding judge Phillip Mark Soentpiet read out during a court session on Wednesday supported the demand of public prosecutors.
The court imposed the death penalty for drug offenses on the following defendants: Benyamin Sembiring (39), Puji Minarto Nasution (40), Senta Sitepu (40), and Sahrial (36).
"The defendants are found violating Article 114 (2) of Law No.35 of 2009 on Narcotics and Article 55 (1) of Criminal Code," Soentpiet remarked.
In a previous court hearing, Prosecutor Friska Sianipar had also requested the death penalty for the defendants, all of whom are residents of North Sumatra.
As reported earlier, drug lords continue to view Indonesia as a lucrative market due to its large population and millions of drug users. The value of the country's drug trade is estimated at around Rp66 trillion (around US$4.3 billion).
As a result, Indonesia has seen drug addiction spiral into a life-threatening problem for millions of its people.
A survey conducted by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) pegs the number of drug users in Indonesia at 3.4 million.
According to the survey, around 180 out of every 10 thousand Indonesians, aged between 15 and 64 years, have fallen prey to drug addiction.
North Sumatra is ranked as the third most vulnerable province in Indonesia for drug-related crimes, according to BNN, with an estimated 3.06 percent of the province's population classified as drug users.
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Translator: Muhammad S, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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