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View all search resultsProsecutors puzzled by acquittal of Brazilian drug suspect
Prosecutors have been puzzled by a recent verdict at the Tangerang Distrcit Court that saw a Brazilian citizen acquitted of all charges relating to the possession of 990 grams of heroin worth up to Rp 5 billion (US$512,000)
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P
rosecutors have been puzzled by a recent verdict at the Tangerang Distrcit Court that saw a Brazilian citizen acquitted of all charges relating to the possession of 990 grams of heroin worth up to Rp 5 billion (US$512,000).
'We have appealed to the Supreme Court and demanded the death penalty for the Brazilian, Reginaldo Bom Fim,' Andi Konggoasa, head of the general crime department at Tangerang prosecutors' office told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Andi said a panel of judges presided over by Syamsul Bahri Harahap acquitted the defendant of all charges and let him walk free after an unannounced hearing held at the district court on Feb. 14.
Reginaldo was arrested by customs and excise officers who accused him of being the intended recipient of the drugs, which were sent from Brazil to Bali by courier transiting via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on June 11, 2012.
Prosecutors charged him with violating Articles 113 and 114 of the 2009 law on narcotics, which carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
'We initially asked the court to sentence the defendant to 20 years imprisonment,' he said.
Andi said when he was arrested in Bali, the defendant claimed that he was Reginaldo Bom Fim and showed a passport with that name but with a picture of someone else.
'After he was sent to Tangerang Penitentiary, awaiting trial, the defendant managed to produce a new passport bearing
his own picture identifying him as Paolo. He denied he was Reginaldo Bom Fim,'' Andi said.
'The panel of judges freed the defendant on the grounds of identification errors but how could the defendant apply for the new passport while he was behind bars here in Tangerang,' he said.
Tangerang District chief Ridwan Ramli said there was no need to bring the verdict into question because no one could interfere in the panel of judges' decision in a case.
'If the panel of judges' decision is regarded as unjust, the prosecutors can appeal to a higher court or the Supreme Court,' he added.
Following the district court verdict, the suspect was transferred to immigration quarantine detention in West Jakarta, awaiting immigration officers' examination of the defendant's travel document.
