A Jakarta man who was arrested in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) for possession of marijuana is facing one year in prison despite claiming that the illegal substance was used to treat a debilitating condition.
In November 2019, Reyndhart Rossy N Siahaan, 37, was arrested in his boarding home in West Manggarai regency, NTT, where police found some 400 grams of marijuana. Rossy was charged with possession of marijuana, which his lawyer later said was consumed medicinally.
“Our client has suffered from spinal nerve damage since 2015. In 2018, the chronic pain returned,” Herie CN, Rossy’s legal representative, said yesterday.
Herie added that Rossy learned about the medical properties of marijuana, particularly in its ability to alleviate chronic pain, on the internet.
Nevertheless, the charges against Rossy still stand.
“Our client has never been charged with the same crime before. He regrets his action and promises not to do it again,” Bandri Jerry Jacob, another legal representative, said, adding that he is hoping Rossy would be sent to rehab instead of serving time in prison.
Rossy is set to attend his first trial session at the Kupang District Court on Thursday. Meanwhile, local police say they are still tracking down Rossy’s alleged marijuana supplier.
Rossy’s case is somewhat similar to that of Fidelis Arie Sudewarto, an Indonesian man who was sentenced to eight months in prison for growing marijuana used to treat his dying wife. Though Fidelis’ final sentence was still harsher than what his supporters or even the prosecution had hoped for, it could still be considered a merciful one as Indonesia’s notoriously harsh drug laws carry a maximum charge of a life sentence for the crime.
Executing drug traffickers, for which Indonesia has been criticized internationally, has been chided as an ineffective measure. In recent years, the executions to battle what the government describes as Indonesia’s growing “drug emergency” seems to have done nothing to stop the increasing number of drug users in the country (according to the government’s own data). Many experts argue that the real problem is in fact the rampant corruption in Indonesia’s prisons, legal system, and law enforcement agencies.
