The South Sumatra High Court imposed the death penalty...

The South Sumatra High Court imposed the death penalty on Kiagus Zainal Abidinagainst, who had previously been sentenced to 18 years in prison by a lower court for possessing 58.7 kilograms of marijuana.
Hairul Sutrisno, a clerk of the high court, said chief Judge Harifin Tumpa and three other judges, Basuki Suhendro, Agustinus and Loto Rungu, had unanimously decided on a death sentence for the defendant because of the severity of the crime.
"The high court tried the case after the defendant appealed soon after the Palembang District Court sentenced him to 18 years in prison last September," he said.It was the first narcotics case in the province in which a person found guilty of possessing marijuana was given the death penalty.
Herly Salia, a criminal law expert at the University of Sriwijaya in the city, said she empathized with the high court's decision as an effort to combat the marijuana mafia in the province.
"A majority of local people support the death penalty to stop marijuana traffickers", she added.