Fidelis Arie Sudewarto (Kompas com/Yohanes Kurnia Irawan)

Some people are willing to go the extra mile to help the people they love, even when the odds are stacked against them.

Such was the commitment of Fidelis Arie Sudewarto, a resident of Sanggau, West Kalimantan, when he decided to use marijuana as a palliative treatment for his wife Yenni Riawati, who was suffering from a rare spinal disease called syringomyelia.

After going through many exhausting treatment options for Yenni without result, Fidelis came across online information that said cannabis oil could ease syringomyelia sufferers’ pain.

However, since no one could assist him in getting permission to obtain or use cannabis as a medication, Fidelis decided to grow marijuana plants at home.

The details of his efforts to help Yenni were recalled by the 36-year-old Fidelis in a defense statement in front of judges last week. “I was the only one who truly understood my wife’s condition,” Fidelis said from the defendant’s seat at Sanggau State Court.

The use of cannabis had an apparent ameliorative effect on Yenni, allowing her to sleep and giving her an appetite, said Fidelis, who was arrested by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) on Feb. 19 for growing 39 marijuana plants.

“You don’t have to take chemical drugs that are not effective to treat you. Only through cannabis oil, can I see you smiling again,” Fidelis added, reading out a letter he addressed to his late wife, which was included in his defense statement.

Fidelis revealed that Yenni, whom he lost on March 25, a month after he was arrested for growing the drug, did not know that he had grown cannabis and processed the extract to treat her.

“I also plead for your mercy for every violation of the law that I have committed so that I can continue my life with my children,” Fidelis said to the panel of judges.

But the story of Fidelis’ unwavering love and dedication to helping his late wife failed to move the judges or spared the father of two from Indonesia’s strict drug laws.

On Wednesday, Sanggau State Court sentenced Fidelis to eight months in jail after finding him guilty of planting, possessing and providing cannabis as stipulated in the 2009 Narcotics Law. The judges also ordered him to pay Rp 1 billion (US$75,013) in fines or serve an additional one month in prison.

The sentence was heavier than the prosecutors’ demand of five months in jail and a fine of Rp 800 million.

“The panel of judges weighed three aspects — juridical, sociological and philosophical — all three of which should play an equal part [in our sentence],” presiding judge Achmad Irfir Rohman said as quoted by kompas.com.

Fidelis’ case has sparked debate about the use of medicinal cannabis in Indonesia, which is the among countries with the strictest drug laws in the world.

Anggara Suwahju from think-tank the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) lambasted the judges for overlooking the fact that Fidelis had no choice in treating his wife other than using cannabis. “Fidelis’ case should open the minds of the government, especially the President, whose statements on the war on drugs since 2015 have resulted in Fidelis becoming one of the victims,” Anggara said in a statement.

Marselina Lin, Fidelis’ lawyer, said his client and family had yet to decide whether Fidelis would file an appeal against the sentence. “He wants to think about the fate of his two children before considering an appeal,” she told The Jakarta Post.

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