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Life-sentenced prisoner gets death penalty for controlling drug trade
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Heavy punishment: Life-sentenced inmate Udo Tohar (center, front) gets the death penalty during a hearing at Medan District Court on Feb.14. He was found guilty of controlling the drug trade from his cell at Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
J
udges at Medan District Court in North Sumatra handed down on Wednesday the death penalty to Udo Tohar for controlling the distribution of drugs from behind bars at Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary in Medan.
The death sentence imposed on Tohar was in line with the sentence demand by the team from the North Sumatra Prosecutor’s Office.
Presiding Judge S. Batubara said in his ruling that Tohar had been proven to have directed the distribution of 17 kilograms of narcotics from inside the prison.
He further said the convicted had violated Article 114 (2) of Law No.35/2009 on narcotics.
“We sentence defendant Udo Tohar to death,” said Batubara in his ruling. He said there was no aspect that could mitigate the sentence for the defendant. One factor that had made his sentence heavier was the fact that he did not support the government’s program to eradicate drug crimes. His crime had the potential to destroy the future of Indonesia’s younger generations.
Prosecutor Sindu Hutomo said the prosecution team accepted the ruling while Tohar said he would consider appealing it.
Tohar, of Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra, was arrested after National Narcotics Agency (BNN) officials arrested his three accomplices, namely Dedi Guntari Panjaitan, Sofyan Dalimunthe and Saiful Amri. They were arrested for possessing 17,445 grams of crystal methamphetamine during an operation on Jl. Dr.Mansyur, Medan, on Dec. 18, 2015. (ebf)
