INDONESIAN MAN TO HANG FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

the Indonesian Federal Court unanimously affirmed the death sentence imposed by the High Court on Abdul Rahman Akif, 53, an Indonesian textile businessman for trafficking in 4,826.9 grams of cannabis, on May 9, 1996. Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim read that the Court of Appeal's sentence of 18 years and 10 strokes of the rotan was set aside. Akif claimed he thought the three packages he was carrying for a friend contained clothes, not drugs. However the justices found this to be ‘highly fictitious.’ The Indonesian High Court had sentenced Akif to death on February 21, 1998.