Five men were on trial at the Gianyar Courthouse, Bali on Wednesday Nov 18th 2020 after getting arrested for selling local liquor (Arak).
The Judge of Gianyar Courthouse, Wawan Edi Prastiyo felt sorry for the defendants after learning they have been going through tough times when they lost their job due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. So much so he decided to drop the case and dismiss the fines for the defendants to help relieve the financial burden.
Wawan said that these people used to work in tourism industry before the Pandemic started, but now after losing their jobs they were selling Arak on the street only to survive.
“I feel sorry to these men, they just want to survive this situation. Instead of arresting them, they should have been educated” Wawan said.
According to the Provincial Government’s regulation, selling Arak is not illegal, as long as they don’t sell it to children or in religious places or sport centers.
During the trial, Wawan asked one of the defendants to show what he had in his wallet.
When he saw the man only had USD $21 (IDR 300,000). he felt bad for him.
“It wasn’t enough to feed his family with a kid and a wife for a month” Wawan added.
He decided to not detain the 5 men and also dismissed their fines.
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