Indonesia is infamous for its incredibly harsh drug laws and its controversial use of the death penalty to execute drug dealers. But while polls show Indonesians overwhelmingly support severe punishments for drug dealers (spurred on by flawed government statistics claiming drugs kill 50 people per day), the story of Fidelis Arie Sudewarto, a man who was arrested for growing marijuana to help treat his wife’s rare medical condition, moved many throughout the country – including the government prosecutors, who have demanded a relatively light sentence for the widowed father of two.
According to media reports, Fidelis wept tears of relief when, during a court hearing last Wednesday, he heard the prosecution ask that he only be sentenced to 5 months in prison (and a fine of Rp 800 million or an additional month in prison).
“As law enforcement agencies we try to find a balance between justice and law. We are also trying to accommodate the values of justice in this case,” Sanggau District Attorney Danang Suryo Wibowo said while talking outside the courthouse to the media on Wednesday as quoted by Jawa Pos.
Fidelis was arrested on February 29 after officers from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) found that he had been grown 39 marijuana plants.
According to his own account and that of his family, Fidelis was growing the illegal plants to treat his wife Yeni, who was suffering from an extremely rare and painful disease called syringomyelia. After local doctors were unable to help him 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.
“After trying [the marijuana] there was an apparent healing effect. At first she (Yeni) did not want to sleep for days, but after drinking the [marijuana] extract she began sleeping soundly. At first she did not want to eat, but afterwards her appetite increased. She also began to speak again and was able to defecate with ease,” said Yohana, Fidelis’ sister, as quoted by Tribun.
But 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).
Fortunately, the prosecution decided to show Fidelis mercy. Serang Attorney General Danang said that the fact the marijuana was for his wife and that he had not been proven to have used or sold any were major mitigating factors in their sentencing demand.
Even Fidelis’ legal counsel said she was satisfied with the prosecution’s demand, saying it was “appropriate to the facts of the trial”. Fidelis’ sister also said their family could accept a 5-month sentence.
Is the government easing up on its draconian position towards drug sentencing, or did they simply want to avoid the bad PR that would’ve come with giving Fidelis a much harsher sentence? We can’t say, but hopefully his case can at least open people’s minds to the possibilities of marijuana having legitimate medical purposes that cannot morally be brushed away due to arbitrary and outdated laws.
