Three Indian nationals face death penalty for smuggling drugs to Indonesia | Indian News
Media reports say three Indian nationals on a Singapore ship that has been detained in Indonesia since July 2024 face death penalty.
Raju Muthukumaran, 38, Selvadurai Dinakaran, 34, and Govindhasamy Vimalkandhan, 45, have been working in the Singapore transportation industry, allegedly arrested for allegedly sending 106 kilometers of crystal methylmethylmethylated methylmethamphetamine to the legendary Aquend Aquend Aquarius Cargo vessel. They are all from Tamil Nadu.
Indonesian authorities took action to intercept the ship in the waters of Pongkar in the Karimun area, about an hour away from Singapore’s Ferry.
Singapore’s weekly Tabla reported on Friday that the trio faced a major setback on March 14, when the captain failed to appear in court.
In response to the testimony, the court summoned the captain to testify in person on March 14. However, he appeared briefly through Zoom to prevent the defense from cross-examination.
The Defense Team insists that the captain’s testimony is crucial to building the innocence of the client.
Prosecutors demand death penalty, which is the maximum sentence under Indonesian law.
The three are represented by Indian lawyer John Paul, managing partner of Indian law firm South Asia Lex Legles Services (SAL). According to the LinkedIn post, Paul is from Tamil Nadu.
The defense team is also led by Indonesian company Bambang Supriadi & Partners, who believes the allegations are wrong.
Paul added: “We focus on proposing a strong defense and highlight the contradictions in the prosecution case.”
To strengthen their argument, the defense presented retired Indonesian naval officer and international maritime law expert B. Ponto as a mitigation witness.
On February 25, Soleman testified that the captain was responsible for all cargo on the ship under Indonesian law.
The defense believes that it is extremely unlikely that such a large amount of drugs will be smuggled without the captain’s knowledge.
“We strongly believe that the actual perpetrator has been released,” defense attorney Yan Aprilho said.
“The case is under trial and there are crucial defense evidence as well as expert witness testimony to establish the innocence of three detained Indian nationals,” Yan said. “There is no evidence from the captain raised questions about the prosecution case.”
The trial is ongoing and a verdict is expected to be held on April 15.
At a press conference in Bataan on July 17, 2024, Indonesia’s National Anesthesiology Agency head Marthinus Hukom claimed that the three were drug owners and commissioned the trip.
