Photo:
The defendant (in red vest) discusses with his legal team at the Denpasar District Court.
DENPASAR 9/9/2025 WorldWartaGlobal. Id
The next hearing in the narcotics case involving Ukrainian citizen Roman Nazarenko was held at the Denpasar District Court on Monday (September 9). The trial entered the defense or plea reading stage.
The defendant's legal team, Aditya Fatra, MH., and Rico Ardika Panjaitan, SH., firmly stated that their client was not a drug dealer or manufacturer, as alleged by the prosecutor, but rather a victim of drug abuse.
In their defense, the legal team highlighted the Public Prosecutor's (JPU) charges, which they deemed too forced and inconsistent with the facts revealed during the trial. According to them, the charges against the defendant under the article on the production and distribution of narcotics were completely unsupported by valid evidence.
"From all the facts of the trial, the only thing that was proven was that the defendant was a personal abuser of Class I narcotics, as stipulated in Article 127 paragraph (1) letter a of the Narcotics Law," said Aditya Fatra in his plea.
The defense attorneys considered much of the witness testimony to be more assumptive than factual. They emphasized that there was no evidence to suggest that Nazarenko played an active role in drug production, let alone in the international distribution network as alleged.
"The witness statements were mostly conjectures, not facts that could incriminate our client," added Rico Ardika Panjaitan. Furthermore, in their plea, the defense team also presented several mitigating factors. These included the defendant's prior criminal record, his polite and cooperative behavior throughout the legal process, his admission of guilt, and his deep remorse.
The attorneys also emphasized that Roman was the breadwinner of his family in his home country. Furthermore, the defense attorneys alluded to the defendant's role in assisting the police in uncovering a transnational drug network.
According to Nazarenko's testimony, authorities successfully expanded the investigation overseas and arrested a major drug dealer in Thailand. "This should be taken into consideration by the panel of judges, as the defendant's honesty has significantly benefited law enforcement," explained Aditya Fatra.
On the other hand, the defense team emphasized that the prosecutor's demand for a heavy sentence for the defendant does not reflect a sense of justice. They reminded them of the legal principle of in dubio pro reo, which states that in cases of doubt, the law should side with the defendant. Therefore, they requested that the panel of judges prioritize humanitarian considerations and impose a sentence of rehabilitation, rather than imprisonment.
"We hope the panel of judges can view this case with a clearer perspective. Our client is not the main perpetrator in the drug trafficking network, but rather a drug abuser who could have been saved through rehabilitation. The prosecutor's demand is clearly disproportionate and does not support the principles of justice," concluded Rico Ardika Panjaitan in his defense.
Meanwhile, after the trial, Roman Nazarenko apologized to the people of Bali and Indonesia for the situation that had occurred. He stated that he was not the actor in this case, but rather the victim of someone's actions.
"I was framed by Oleg Tkachuk as the perpetrator of all this, and I was thrown into this situation that I had no prior knowledge of," he concluded. He also did not know the whereabouts of Oleg Tkachuk, whom he called the true mastermind behind the drug production
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