Indonesian peoplesmuggling kingpin jailed for six years

ROTE, Indonesia: An Indonesian people- smuggling kingpin who organised an illegal migrant boat journey that sparked a diplomatic row with Australia was jailed for six years yesterday.

Abraham Louhenapessy, commonly known as ‘ Captain Bram', helped find a crew and buy a boat for a voyage intended to take 65 migrants to New Zealand in early 2015.

Louhenapessy has long been a notorious figure in the peoplesmuggling trade.

He is believed to have organised numerous illegal migrant boat voyages from Indonesia, a staging post on long- established routes, with Canberra saying that he has targeted Australia since 1999.

The voyage for which the 56year- old was convicted yesterday sparked a fierce row between Canberra and Jakarta, due to allegations that Australian officials stopped the boat in their waters and paid its crew about 30,000 to turn back to Indonesia.

Chief judge Hiras Sitanggang told the court on remote Rote island, where the boat came ashore after it was turned back, that Louhenapessy was guilty of people-smuggling.

“The defendant is sentenced to six years in prison,” he said, adding that Louhenapessy also had to pay a fine of US$ 37,000 or serve an additional six months in jail.

It was lower than the nine-year term recommended by prosecutors at an earlier hearing.

The people- smuggler has been arrested three times in the past decade, with the most recent occasion being in September. — AFP