The Tangerang District Court sentenced Zulfiqar Ali, 41, a Pakistani citizen, to death on Tuesday for drug trafficking. The panel of judges presided over by Suprapto said that Zulfiqar was guilty of trying to traffic 300 grams of heroin through the Soekarno-Hatta airport to Surabaya on August 28, 2004. Ali, arrested along with his Indonesian girlfriend last August, proved to be a member of an international narcotics network syndicate, the judge said. As part of Indonesia's pledge to get tough on growing drug offenses, death sentences have been given to at least 32 people, mostly foreigners, since 2000, even though none of the sentences have thus far been carried out.
The Australian Corby
An Indonesian court sentenced a young Australian beauty therapist to 20 years in jail on Friday for smuggling 4.1 kg of marijuana into the holiday island of Bali in a case that has transfixed Australia. Lawyers for Schapelle Corby, 27, said they would appeal the verdict, which triggered outrage from her family and thrust Bali under the spotlight with Indonesia's police chief labelling it a hub for international drug trafficking syndicates. "The panel of judges declares the defendant legally and convincingly guilty of the crime of illegal importation of narcotics," chief judge Linton Sirait told a hearing that was watched live in Australia. (By Tomi Soetjipto).
