Members of Indonesia syndicate which sold babies to Singapore get 3 to 7 years jail

JAKARTA/BANDUNG: An Indonesian court on Tuesday (Jul 21) convicted members of a baby trafficking syndicate of selling babies under the guise of adoption to couples in Indonesia and Singapore, and meted out jail sentences of up to seven years, with the minimum at three years four months.Eighteen women and one man were found guilty by the Bandung City District Court of selling at least 34 babies between 2022 and 2025, some of whom were taken to Singapore and sold for thousands of dollars each. The harshest sentence of seven years was handed down to 70-year-old Lie Siu Luan - also known as Lily - whom the court ruled to be the brains and ringleader behind the operation and recruited the other defendants in the case. Meanwhile, Astri Fitrinika, 26, and Djaka Hamdani, 35, were sentenced to six years and seven months in prison each for their role in recruiting the babies trafficked by the syndicate. Djaka is the only male defendant in the case. The court also handed down six years and seven months in prison to 60-year-old Lai Siu Ha, whom the court said helped the syndicate in forging documents to obscure the babies’ origins. Elin Marlina, accused of aiding Astri and Djaka in recruiting the babies, also received a similar sentence of six years and seven months. Meanwhile, the other 15 defendants were each given a prison term of three years and four months for playing minor roles in the operation. These include five who falsely claimed to be the babies’ parents on forged legal documents and video calls to potential adopters.The sentences were lower than the 10-year prison terms prosecutors had earlier sought for Lily, Astri, Djaka, Lai and Elin. Prosecutors earlier sought five years in prison for the other 14 accomplices. The 19 defendants and the prosecution can still appeal the decision and the convicted document forger Lai immediately told the court that she will challenge the Bandung court’s decision. Additional reporting by Yuli Saputra