Indonesian man who grew marijuana to treat his dying wife released on parole

Fidelis visiting his wife Yeni’s grave on October 15, 2017 following his release on parole. Photo: Detik
Fidelis visiting his wife Yeni’s grave on October 15, 2017 following his release on parole. Photo: Detik

Fidelis Arie Sudewarto, the man from Sanggau, West Kalimantan who was arrested in February for growing several marijuana plants to help treat his dying wife’s rare medical condition was released on parole yesterday.

The widowed father of two’s parole comes towards the end of his 8-month prison sentence, which was handed down in August, with the possibility of an additional month in prison if he fails to pay a fine of IDR1 billion (US$74,000).

“Tomorrow we’ll check in with the Sintang Penitentiary, because this parole requires (Fidelis) to check in once a month. After that, we’ll find out what we have to do for the remainder of his sentence,” said Yohanna, Fidelis’ sister, as quoted by Detik yesterday.

Following his conditional release, Fidelis went straight to visit the grave of his wife, Yeni, whose condition deteriorated after Fidelis was jailed in February and died just over a month later.

“He was quiet when he saw his wife’s grave. He was sad because he wasn’t able to attend Yeni’s 3-day, 7-day, 40-day and 100-day commemoration service,” Yohanna said.

According to his own account and that of his family, Fidelis was growing the illegal plants to treat his wife, who was suffering from an extremely rare and painful disease called syringomyelia. After local doctors were unable to help her and exhausting many other options, Fidelis came across information online that said cannabis could be used as an analgesic to alleviate syringomyelia sufferers’ pain. He then made the decision to start growing some marijuana plants himself, which he then processed and gave to his wife for her treatment at home.

As Yeni’s condition improved, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) caught wind of Fidelis’ illegal treatments and arrested him at his home. Following his arrest and detention, Yeni stopped taking her cannabis treatment and her condition worsened.

Sadly, she eventually succumbed to her disease and passed away, 32 days after her husband’s arrest.

Fidelis said he never used the marijuana himself and his drug tests came out negative. No evidence was found that he sold the illegal substance to others either.

While the story of his quest to help his dying wife by any means necessary led many to call for him to be freed or given a lenient punishment, BNN officials initially suggested he could be sentenced up to 20 years for his crimes. BNN Chief Budi Waseso even said the death penalty should be considered for Fidelis’ case (others have been sentenced to death for marijuana-related crimes in the past).

The 8-month sentence given to Fidelis, while still harsher than what his supporters or even the prosecution had hoped for, could still be considered a merciful one. And considering the sympathy and public support Fidelis earned throughout his case, supporters of the legalization of medical marijuana in Indonesia should also see this sentence as an opening to at least get a serious discussion on the issue going, in the hopes that others like Yeni need not suffer needlessly in the future.



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