British national and former news correspondent David Fox (right)
An Indonesian court sentenced a former Reuters war correspondent to seven months in prison yesterday for possessing hashish.
The sentence announced at the Denpasar District Court in Bali was less than the one-year prison term sought by prosecutors.
British national David Fox was arrested Oct. 8 along with Australian Giuseppe Serafino on the tourist island, where police confiscated a total of 10.09 grams of hashish from Fox’s clothing and house.
With time already served, Fox is due for release in May.
Through his lawyer, Fox thanked supporters and said he accepted the court’s judgment.
“I am very grateful for this lenient sentence,” he said.
Fox, 55, worked for Reuters for 20 years but was fired in 2011 for making an off-color remark in an instant-messaging system while covering the 2011 Japan tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdowns.
In his indictment, presiding Judge Erwin Djong noted Fox’s testimony that he used hashish to cope with the trauma suffered from covering conflicts but said there was no justification for drug use, which was a negative influence on Indonesia’s youth. AP
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