The Medan District Court, North Sumatra, is pictured in this file photo. - PN Medan/File This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Man gets death penalty for carrying 1.3 tonnes of marijuana in Medan". Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2023/06/08/man-gets-death-penalty-for-carrying-1-3-tonnes-of-marijuana-in-medan.html. Download The Jakarta Post app for easier and faster news access: Android: http://bit.ly/tjp-android iOS: http://bit.ly/tjp-ios
MEDAN (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): The Medan Court in North Sumatra on Tuesday (June 6) sentenced Mawardi, a 24-year-old man from Gayo Lues, Aceh, to death after being found guilty of carrying 1.3 tonnes of marijuana, fulfilling the demand of the prosecutors.
In the trial, which was held online, presiding judge Yusafrihardi Girsang said in his verdict that the defendant violated several articles of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics.
Yusafrihardi said the severe sentence was because the defendant had violated the government’s attempts to fight against drugs.
The judge said he found no mitigating factors for the verdict. Defendant Mawardi, who was present via teleconference, decided to appeal the verdict.
Mawardi was arrested in Medan on Dec. 12, 2022 carrying 1.3 tonnes of marijuana from Gayo Lues to Medan.
Mawardi said he did the job, which would earn him Rp2 million (US$134), to pay for his mother’s medical treatment.
Last month, the Medan Military Court in North Sumatra sentenced two Army soldiers to life imprisonment for trafficking 40,000 ecstasy pills and 75 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in December.
Yalpin Tarzun and Rian Hermawan were also dishonourably discharged from the military.
The prosecutors had previously demanded the death penalty. Presiding judge Col. Asril Siagian in his verdict cited the defendants' guilty pleas as a mitigating factor.
The two were arrested by the police while carrying the contraband from Tanjung Balai to Medan on Dec. 5, 2022. They were delivering the drugs to dealers Yogi Saputra Dewa and Syahril Syamsudin, who were later arrested at a hotel in Medan.
