The flip-flop of Indonesian justice. A court reduced the sentence of Frenchman Félix Dorfin to nineteen years' imprisonment, who was surprised to be sentenced to death in May for drug trafficking. "Praise God, the sentence of Mr. Dorfin has been commuted," said Friday, August 2, the lawyer Denny Nur Indra.
Indonesian justice may be known for its severity in drug cases, the sentence handed down in first instance against this 35-year-old man from Bethune (northern France), was a surprise because it was going to well beyond the requisitions of the prosecutor who had asked for 20 years in prison.
Félix Dorfin was arrested in late September 2018 at Lombok airport, a very touristy island near Bali, from Singapore with three kilograms of ecstasy, amphetamines and ketamine hidden in a double-bottomed suitcase. . The lawyer described his client as "a victim" who did not know what he was carrying. "If he knew what the cargo was, he would not have brought it here," the lawyer said.
"Mitigating circumstances"
"The High Court reviewed the evidence but decided to reduce the sentence to 19 years in prison," said a spokeswoman for the court. He noted extenuating circumstances, including regrets from Felix Dorfin. "The death penalty is decided in cases where there is no mitigating circumstance," he continued.
It is not immediately clear whether the Crown will appeal the decision of the High Court. "We will reflect and decide on a possible appeal," said prosecutor Ginung Pratidina. Felix Dorfin had managed in January to escape from the police detention center and had gone on the run for 11 days.
Eventually found in a northern forest on Lombok Island where he was hiding, he was arrested on February 1 by police officers whom he said he had tried to bribe. The sentence decided on appeal also provides that Felix Dorfin pays a fine of ten billion rupees ($ 705,000) under one month, failing which he may be sentenced to one year's imprisonment.
France "concerned"
The French government was said to be "concerned" by the conviction at first instance, reiterating the "constant opposition (of France) to the death penalty in all places and in all circumstances". Another Frenchman, Serge Atlaoui, is still on death row in Indonesia. He was sentenced in 2007 in a narcotics case.
Drug traffickers face long prison sentences or even death in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, which has made the fight against drugs one of its priorities. Jakarta sentenced 48 people to death last year, including 15 foreigners found guilty of drug trafficking, according to statistics compiled by the NGO Amnesty International.
With AFP