The Tangerang District Court sentenced to death two...

The Tangerang District Court sentenced to death two Nigerians, a Zimbabwean and a Nepalese man for drug related offences. In four separate court sessions, Nigerians Okwudili Ayotanze, 21, and Hansen Anthony Nwaliosa, 33, Zimbabwean Ozias Sibanda, 33, and Nepalese Indra Bahadur Tamang, 21, were found guilty of smuggling heroin into the country from Pakistan and Thailand in January 2001. Ade Komarudin, who presided over the panel of judges trying Ayotanze, contended that a death sentence was appropriate for drug traffickers like Ayotanze in order to discourage drug trafficking. "Our considerations were based on legal certainty as well as the impact of a court verdict on society and on the people's sense of justice," Ade said as soon as he concluded the sentencing of Ayotanze. Ayotanze and Ozias Sibanda were caught by Soekarno-Hatta international airport's customs officers on Jan. 30 trying to smuggle 1.15 kilograms and 850 grams of heroin respectively. Hansen Nwaliosa was apprehended at the airport on Jan. 29, trying to smuggle 600 grams of heroin after arriving on a Pakistani Airlines flight from Karachi. Customs officials at the airport arrested Indra Tamang on Jan. 20 for attempting to smuggle 900 grams of heroin after catching a Singapore Airlines flight from Bangkok, with a stopover in Singapore.