Dealer Of 25 Kg Of Meth From PALU, South Sumatra Sentenced To Death: There Is Nothing To Relieve The Defendant's Decision

The defendant Taufik Hidayat during a press conference on the disclosure of drug cases at the South Sumatra Police, Palembang, Thursday, June 17 (Nova Wahyudi/Antara)

JAKARTA - The Panel of Judges at the Palembang Special Class IA District Court sentenced Taufik Hidayat (47) to a narcotics dealer from the Penukal Abab Lematang Ilir (PALI) district of South Sumatra.

The presiding judge, Erma Suharti, in her decision stated that the defendant Taufik Hidayat was proven to be circulating narcotics of 25 kilograms of methamphetamine from Aceh.

"There are no things that lighten the verdict against the defendant," said Erma, Thursday, June 17.

The judge considered that the defendant violated Article 114 paragraph (2) of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics, the verdict was the same as the demands of the South Sumatra Prosecutor's Office which asked the defendant to be sentenced to death.

The judge also gave weighting points because the defendant was recorded to have served a sentence of 10 years in a murder case, besides that the defendant did not admit his actions during the trial.

Even the panel of judges rejected the defendant's defense for all of those who asked to be released, because based on the statement of the public prosecutor, the defendant already knew that the items he was carrying were methamphetamine, not workshop tools as he argued in the police investigation report (BAP).

Meanwhile, the defendant immediately filed an appeal against the verdict.

The defendant was arrested by the South Sumatra Police Narcotic Investigation team in February 2021, at that time Taufik was asked by someone named Rahman (DPO) to take the package and then send it to Lubuklinggau with the promise of a salary of Rp15 million.

Then the defendant used a private car to go to the pick-up location, namely Palembang-Sekayu street, Simpang Empat Balai Agung, Balai Agung District.

Arriving at the location, the defendant met two unidentified persons, both of whom put a brown cardboard box into the defendant's car. Not long after, personnel from the South Sumatra Police's Narcotics Department raided him. However, the two men fled in their cars.