Mataram (Indonesia) (AFP) -- An Indonesian court sentenced Frenchman Félix Dorfin to death for drug smuggling on Monday, in a shock verdict after prosecutors asked for a 20-year jail term.
Dorfin, 35, was arrested in September carrying a suitcase filled with about three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of drugs including ecstasy and amphetamines at the airport in Lombok, a holiday island next to Bali where foreigners are routinely arrested on drugs charges.
Indonesia has some of the world's strictest drug laws -- including death by firing squad for some drug traffickers and it has executed foreigners in the past.
While prosecutors had not asked for the death penalty, Indonesian courts have been known to go beyond their demands.
"After finding Félix Dorfin legally and convincingly guilty of importing narcotics ... (he) is sentenced to the death penalty," presiding judge Isnurul Syamsul Arif told the court.
He cited Dorfin's involvement in an international drug syndicate and the amount of drugs in his possession as aggravating factors.
"The defendant's actions could potentially do damage to the younger generation," Arif added.
The Frenchman made headlines in January when he escaped from a police detention centre and spent nearly two weeks on the run before he was captured.
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A female police officer was arrested for allegedly helping Dorfin escape from jail in exchange for money.
It was not clear if the jailbreak played any role in Monday's stiffer-than-expected sentence.
Dorfin, who is from Béthune in northern France, sat impassively through much of the hearing in front of three judges, as a translator scribbled notes beside him.
He said little as he walked past reporters to a holding cell after the sentencing. "Dorfin was shocked," the Frenchman's lawyer Deny Nur Indra told AFP.
"He didn't expect this at all because prosecutors only asked for 20 years."
The lawyer said he would appeal against the sentence, describing his client as a "victim" who did not know the exact contents of what he was carrying.
"If he had known, he wouldn't have brought it here," Indra added.
In 2015, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran -- the accused ringleaders of the Bali Nine heroin smuggling gang -- were executed by firing squad in Indonesia.
The case sparked diplomatic outrage and a call to abolish the death penalty.
The Bali Nine gang's only female member was released from jail last year, while some others remain in prison.
A number of foreigners in Indonesia are on death row including cocaine-smuggling British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford and Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman who has been on death row since 2007.
Last year, eight Taiwanese drug smugglers were sentenced to death by an Indonesian court after being caught with around a tonne of crystal methamphetamine.
Source: France24, Agence France-Presse, Staff, May 20, 2019
Indonesia sentences Frenchman to death for drug crimes
Félix Dorfin has been sentenced to death in a surprise verdict after prosecutors asked for a 20-year jail term. Indonesia has some of the world's strictest drug laws — including death by firing squad.
A court in Indonesia on Monday sentenced Frenchman Félix Dorfin for drug trafficking. Prosecutors had requested 20 years' imprisonment.
"After finding Félix Dorfin legally and convincingly guilty of importing narcotics ... [he] is sentenced to the death penalty," presiding judge Isnurul Syamsul Arif told the court on Lombok Island.
The 35-year-old man from Bethune in northern France was arrested at the end of September at the airport on Lombok — a tourist island near Bali. He had arrived from Singapore with, according to the authorities, nearly four kilograms of cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines hidden in a double-bottomed suitcase.
French fugitive
Dorfin had escaped from police detention in January and went on the run for 11 days before being recaptured in a forest on Lombok Island.
A female police officer was arrested for allegedly helping him escape in exchange for money. It was not clear if the jailbreak played any role in Monday's stiffer-than-expected sentence.
The death sentence came as a shock to Dorfin and his lawyer, Deny Nur, as prosecutors had only requested 20 years imprisonment.
Nur said he would appeal against the death sentence. He described Dorfin as a "victim" who did not know the exact contents of what he was carrying.
Indonesia has not executed anyone since 2016, but a number of foreigners are still on death row including Frenchman Serge Atlaoui and Lindsay Sandiford, a cocaine-smuggling British grandmother, who have been on death row since 2007 and 2013 respectively.
Source:
Deutsche Welle, Staff, May 20, 2019
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