Since the enforcement of the 1997 narcotics and psychotropic...

Since the enforcement of the 1997 narcotics and psychotropic substances law, the Tangerang District Court, Indonesia handed down death sentences against 23 people, six women, five Indonesians and the rest foreigners, who were arrested at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Tangerang, while trying to smuggle illegal drugs in or out of the country. At least five of the 23 convicts were granted life sentences by the higher courts. Since they had the right to file an appeal, many of the cases were under Supreme Court review, and others were seeking presidential pardons. "The process we have to undergo before seeing the execution of a death penalty may require at least five years to reach the final say," head of Tangerang District Court Zaenal Arifin said. Fachrudin Siregar, chief of the general crime division at the Tangerang prosecutor's office said all of the convicts had the right to seek legal efforts to lower the maximum punishment to at least a life term in prison. "As of now, we are still waiting for the President's decision on the pardon requests filed by three Indonesians," he said. He was referring to Meirika Franola, Rani Maharani and Dany Maharwan, whose death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court in 2001. Their second request for a pardon was the last resort as the President rejected their first requests. President Megawati Soekarnoputri supported the death penalty for drug dealers. Emergeny Law No. 12/1985 stipulated execution by firing squad with prosecutors as witnesses. Zaenal said that the prosecutors had actually proposed lenient sentences for the defendants but the judges decided on death, "we judges at this district court consider the death penalty as the most suitable punishment for drug smugglers. The law says so."