The Medan District Court sentenced Amrih Prayoga to death on Wednesday. He was one of three defendants accused of possessing 25 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 30,000 ecstasy pills.

In a separate trial, the court sentenced the two other defendants, Ramlan Siregar and Rahmat Suwito, to life imprisonment.

Prosecutors in both trials had sought the death sentence, but in Ramlan and Rahmat'€™s trial, the panel of judges opted for the lighter punishment.

The presiding judge in Amrih'€™s case, Aksir, said in his verdict that the aggravating factor was that the defendant had trafficked a large amount of drugs and had also played a role as a middleman in smuggling the contraband from Malaysia to Medan.

'€œThe defendant violated Article 114 of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics. Thereby, Amrih Prayoga is sentenced to death,'€ Aksir said.

Police arrested Ramlan, Rahmat and Amrih in September last year, seizing 25 kg of crystal meth and 30,000 ecstasy pills weighing 10 kg.

Their arrest stemmed from the arrest of Hendra Gunawan in the parking lot of Maju Bersama supermarket on Jl. Tritura, Amplas, Medan. Police confiscated 0.5 grams of crystal meth from Hendra.

Building on the case, police arrested Ramlan, but could find no evidence he was involved in drug smuggling. However, Ramlan confessed he had obtained the contraband at Tanjung Balai Harbor, North Sumatra, where it had been brought by a Malaysian contact named Amir.

Ramlan said he had handed the drugs he obtained from Amir to Rahmat, who was then arrested by police as he was waiting for a bus in Sekata Air Batu in Asahan regency, North Sumatra.

Police seized a sack consisting of 25 plastic bags, each filled with crystal meth weighting 25 kg, and six plastic bags filled with 30,000 ecstasy pills weighing 10 kg.

Rahmat claimed he was instructed to take the drugs to Amrih, who was then arrested by police at his house in Medan Baru, Medan. Amrih claimed he had acted only as a field coordinator and as a direct contact for Amir.

Amrih, through his lawyer Laurence Manullang, said he would file an appeal, while the two other defendants and prosecutors were still considering whether or not to appeal.

Meanwhile, on the same day, in a separate trial at the court, prosecutors also sought the death penalty against Lithuanian citizen Mindaugas Verikas for possessing 3.2 kg of crystal meth.

Upon hearing the sentence demand, Verikas immediately slumped in his chair. Through his interpreter, Verikas claimed he was depressed and had received a death threat while under detention in Tanjung Gusta prison.

In response to the complaint, presiding judge Indra Cahya asked prosecutors to separate the defendant from other inmates.

Verikas'€™ lawyer Effendi Barus said he would file a plea over the death sentence sought by prosecutors in the next trial hearing on June 24.

Customs officers at Kualanamu International Airport arrested Verikas on Dec. 14 last year, confiscating the narcotics.

Meanwhile, the Atambua District Court in Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara, has sentenced Aisyah, 35, to 20 years in prison for attempting to smuggle drugs into the country.

During Tuesday'€™s trial, presiding judge Soesilo ruled that Aisyah was guilty of attempting to transport 2,466.99 grams of crystal meth into the country. The sentence was lower than the life imprisonment prosecutors had demanded.

Aisyah was arrested on Nov. 12 last year, at the Motaain post on the Indonesia-Timor Leste border en route from Dili to Kupang.

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