North Sumatra Prosecutor's Office Demands Death Of 93 Defendants In Drug Cases Until December

The North Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati Sumut) demanded the death of 93 defendants in drug cases during the period January to early December 2023.

"The death penalty is intended to protect the community and save the nation's children from the dangers of narcotics abuse and illegal drugs," said Head of the Legal Information Section of the North Sumatra Attorney General's Office Yos A Tarigan in Medan as reported by ANTARA, Monday, December 18.

He detailed the death charges, among others, were carried out by the Medan District Attorney (Kejari) with 40 defendants, the Asahan Kejari 16 defendants, the Langkat Kejari 11 defendants, the Deli Serdang Kejari 10 defendants, the Serdang Bedagai Kejari eight defendants, the Tanjungbalai Kejari five defendants and the Batubara Kejari three defendants.

"The crime of narcotics is a problem that is not easy and becomes an extraordinary type of crime," he said.

He said the determination was based on Law Number 35 of 2009 which confirmed that the punishment was appropriate for violators of serious drug crimes in the form of the death penalty.

"Of the 93 defendants who were charged with the death penalty, some of them after filing an appeal and cassation, some were sentenced to a fixed sentence with the death penalty and some were sentenced to life imprisonment," he said.

According to Yos, referring to the current crime of drug trafficking, it is a crime committed between countries without boundaries and territories.

"We must move together and join hands to reduce the number of narcotics crimes, so that we must fortify ourselves from being entangled with these narcotics. Once trying, it will be difficult to escape addiction and dependence," he said.