Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/01
By: Jay Chou and Shih Hsiu-chuan

Jakarta, April 1 (CNA) Eight Taiwanese facing the possibility of execution in Indonesia for alleged involvement in drug smuggling recently appealed for leniency in court, saying they were unwitting victims of the operation.

The eight suspects, who were arrested last year in connection with the shipment of one ton of amphetamines into Indonesia on a Taiwan-registered yacht, recently appeared for the first time in a district court south of Jakarta.

One of the suspects, Chuang Chin-sheng (莊金生), read a letter to the court in his own defense and expressed remorse, according to the Indonesian newspaper Kompas.

In his defense, Chuang said he started working on the yacht after the company at which he was employed went bankrupt, leaving him short of money for his parents’ medical expenses. Chuang said the job on the yacht was arranged by a friend and he did not know what the work entailed.    [FULL  STORY]