Indonesian man jailed over marijuana farm he grew for wife

An Indonesian court on Borneo island jailed a man on Wednesday for eight months after he grew medicinal marijuana to help ease the suffering of his cancer-stricken wife, who died shortly after his arrest

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An Indonesian court on Borneo island jailed a man on Wednesday for eight months after he grew medicinal marijuana to help ease the suffering of his cancer-stricken wife, who died shortly after his arrest.

The story of Fidelis Arie Sudewarto has stirred the sympathy and outrage of rights activists. The Sanggau district court jailed Sudewarto for eight months and fined him 1 billion rupiah ($75,000), his lawyer Marcelina Lin said.

The term was longer than the five months sought by the prosecution. According to his lawyer, the court had found that Sudewarto did not have a permit to use marijuana and had supplied it to another person, although he said the judge accepted that he was not a user or a dealer.

Lin said his client, a father of two, had cried on hearing the verdict and was still considering whether to appeal. He is now being held in the Sanggau Correctional Institute.

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