Indonesia seeks 15-year term for Australian found with 1.7 gram of marijuana in his suitcase

Indonesia seeks 15-year term for Australian found with 1.7 gram of marijuana in his suitcase

Indonesian prosecutors have charged an Australian man with drug smuggling and are seeking a 15-year prison sentence after a small amount of marijuana was found in his luggage as he arrived on the resort island of Bali.

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[edit on 31-3-2010 by jaamaan]

This is very sad news.
15 years in prison for having 1.7 grams of a natural plant on him.
I could call the man stupid for bringing it in, but i find these laws much more incredible.
When is this madness going to stop.

Pure tyranny in my opinion.
There are people committing serious crimes who have to do less time in jail than this man is facing.

I gues the sad picture is that this happens in many more countries aldo not so so bad as in this country.

www.startribune.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 31-3-2010 by jaamaan]

I don't agree with the law, nor the potential sentence, but the old saying ''When in Rome, do as the Romans do'' is very applicable here.

People have got to stop swanning into a country and arrogantly assuming that the country's laws do not apply to them, or thinking that they can bring their own country's laws and attitudes with them.

Seems like this happens to an Australian ever couple of months. You'd think they'd get the point that Indonesia doesn't like people bringing drugs into the country.

How ironic considering Indonesian government and court system is one of the most corrupt in the world and a hot spot for major drug trafficking and sex slaves. The Indonesians should focus on sex trafficking instead of merely 1.5 g of pot. What a joke.

It's their own fault. If you don't fancy doing a 15 year stretch for illegal possesion of a drug, don't possess it. Simple.

Here in Holland its legal to grow 5 plants in your home.
There are coffeeshops on every corner where you can buy small amounts of weed or just a joint, legally.

Its a crazy world. Feel sorry for the Aussie, 15 years rotten away for a little peace of plant.

wow that is rediculous. A gram and half of pot is freaking nothing. Man, oh man, rediculous! Nothing else to say about this.

Originally posted by vox2442
Seems like this happens to an Australian ever couple of months. You'd think they'd get the point that Indonesia doesn't like people bringing drugs into the country.

How can you call a "weed," an "Herb," a drug? Do you call coffee a "cup?" Just because the DEA, another spaghetti agency of the biggest employer in the world calls it that doesn't mean intelligent Americans have to. By the way, American prisons re bursting at the seams from pot smokers being locked up, while child molesters and rapists go free.

Before the Reagan drug war, prisons were becoming empty. From 1965 to 1975, the US prison population actually shrank at the rate of about 1% per year.1 The drug war ? especially against cannabis ? changed all that, and turned the failing prison industry into a booming business. US Bureau of Justice Statistics show that at the beginning of the Reagan era in 1980, there were 220 inmates for every 100,000 people in the US. But by the end of the Reagan era in 1989, prisons were stuffed to maximum capacity? bursting at a record 434 inmates per 100,000 US citizens. During the Reagan era, the number of inmates per 100,000 US citizens had risen by 214 over a 9 year period? when it had only risen 80 per 100,000 over the previous 52 years!

During the 80's, drug-frenzied cops sported a Reagan-inspired spring to their walk that looked suspiciously like a goose-step, while law makers were busy engineering new forms of oppression. In the mid-80's, federal mandatory minimums were created to round up and jail the US drug culture. What this meant was that judges across the US were forced to sentence non-violent drug offenders for a minimum of five years if they had, for example, 100 marijuana plants, a gram of '___', or 500 grams of coc aine. The penalties were increased to ten years for larger amounts.5 Some states also passed mandatory sentencing laws for drug offenders, the harshest of which were drafted in Michigan and New York.

In a 1998 report The US General Accounting Office (GAO) ? a government organization dedicated to reporting systemic corruption ? revealed that, "the growth in... prison populations since 1980 can be traced in part to changes in sentencing laws that are intended to get tough on crime, particularly drug offenders."6 From '85 to '94, Drug offences were responsible for 36% of the increase in state prison populations and 71% of the increase in federal prison populations. Overall, the number of drug offenders in prison increased 510% from '83 to '93,7 and most of those offenders were in on marijuana charges.

cannabisculture.com...

Prisons, Jails & Probation - Overview

Yep, gotta have mandatory sentencing and tough prisons for those dangerous pot smokers, don't we? Smoke one joint, and you get hooked on heroin. This in itself in criminal behaviour.

is his sentence discriminatory in any way?
if it was .5 grams or 1 kilo would he be served a similar term?

american laws should have nothing to do with the content of the original post!

reply to post by jaamaan


If this is true, its a bit over the top.... i'm not a druggie but surely 15 years for 1.5grams is ridiculous... like one other poster said 'people recieve less punishment for worse crimes'....

HAHAHA.

Of ALL Places, Indonesia
"What are you smoking?
"Indonesia"
"Where am I?"
:Indonesia".
"15 years for smokin indonesia in indonesia?"

"April Fools"

Sure it's stupid to take 1.5 grams of grass into Indonesia but it's even stupider to go to Indonesia and give them our tourist dollars. These guys hate us with a passion. Why prop up their economy? If we boycotted the place, they'd be crying for the pink faces to come back in no time flat.

The friendship between Australia and Indonesia has always been about what we can do for them... and all they do is take, take, take. All we get back in return is BS and whinging.

So... let me get this straight... 15 years for 1.5 grams of grass...

What did they give Abu Bakar Bashir (Jamaah Islamiyah leader) for his role in the Bali Bombings? 2 Years & 8 Months!

Speaks volumes about the Indonesians doesn't it!

IRM

Ok, I could see this if he was smuggling bricks in, that I would kinda understand. Giving the man a smuggling charge for 1.7 grams? I know guys who has lost that much in their couch. Point being? it's not enough for intent to sell cause if your gonna smuggle pot, you smuggle more than two or three hits.

Stupid law.

Originally posted by Benji1999
I don't agree with the law, nor the potential sentence, but the old saying ''When in Rome, do as the Romans do'' is very applicable here.

People have got to stop swanning into a country and arrogantly assuming that the country's laws do not apply to them, or thinking that they can bring their own country's laws and attitudes with them.

exactly! This is the law of a sovereign nation, do your homework before heading there

Originally posted by Ausar

american laws should have nothing to do with the content of the original post!

Why would american laws have nothing to do with the original post?

I mentioned in my original post that the sad story is that this happens in more countries, this includes the USA.
There are many sad examples in that country.

Maybe i should clarify that this was posted in breaking news originally and that the second post in this thread is part of the original post.

So i do not mind if other countries get dragged into this sad thread to.

officials will not seek the death penalty because the amount of marijuana found was relatively small.

McJannett's lawyer says his client has admitted to the charges but argues that the drugs were for medical purposes.

If he had little more he'd probably get death penalty.

Ambassador must fix this! It is totally insane that a Australian man spends 15 years in some Indonesian version of Gulag because he had some grass with him. There were similar incidents which inspired books in China, but that was long time ago (for China at least).
In Singapore they chop off your hand if you're caught in act of stealing... but that's also why no one ever steals stuff there.

War criminals get smaller penalty and enjoy their time in comfy private cells.... just for comparison.

I hope this thread last because it actually is news. And moral of this story learn the laws before you travel.

Originally posted by Monkey Casino
If you don't fancy doing a 15 year stretch for illegal possesion of a drug, don't possess it. Simple.

Laws are meant to be broken, ha.

I do not conduct my private life according to how you or anyone else feels I should conduct my private life, screw that, and screw all those that think THEY have some kind of right to dictate to ME how I should live my own private life when it only affects me. You know what I would like to do? I'd love to KILL EVERYONE that thinks they are the boss of ME, oh man would I love to do that. Unfortunately, I'm outnumbered by all the wannabe dictators of my life on Earth. If I thought I could get away with it, I really would kill everyone that thought they were the boss of my mind! Seriously, people need to mind their own g.d. business and affairs and life and stay out of everyone else's. In my book, it's not is a crime if there is no victim.

Originally posted by blueorder
exactly! This is the law of a sovereign nation, do your homework before heading there

Agreed.

Most Aussies are aware of the extremely harsh Indonesian drug laws thanks to highly publicized cases like Schapelle Corby and the Bali Nine (wiki) so there's really no excuse.

I don't understand why people are willing to literally risk their lives by bringing drugs into countries where they can put you to death for such things.
Maybe there's a reason why marijuana is referred to as dope, I mean you gotta be a bit dopey to get yourself in such trouble.

Despite that I do feel sorry for the guy...