Bali Nine lawyer welcomes online campaign

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran

The lawyer for the two Bali Nine members on death row agrees diplomacy is the best way forward for his clients but is not opposed to an online campaign supporting their bid for clemency from the Indonesian president.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the so-called ringleaders of the 2005 plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia, are likely to apply for clemency from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, after the Indonesian Supreme Court rejected their final appeals against the death sentence.

Their Australian-based lawyer, Julian McMahon, said on Wednesday that he welcomed a campaign launched last week which will use social media to raise awareness about their case and support for a petition which will ask that Dr Yudhoyono spares their lives.

The comments come after the respected Indonesian human rights group, Kontras, on Tuesday called for a low-key diplomatic approach to the case, saying the online campaign could actually do more harm than good.

But Mr McMahon sees the online effort as a positive step.

"Kontras have said that diplomacy, not an online campaign, is the best way forward," he said.

"I agree with Kontras, but I also welcomed the new website. As a lawyer for Chan and Sukumaran, it is obvious to me that diplomacy is what matters most now, it is central to how this case ends. I know both countries share that view, and I am glad."

"But the death penalty cannot be confined to diplomacy."

Kontras, otherwise known as the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, has warned there was a risk that a public campaign could have a negative effect on the attitudes of people in Indonesia as well as that of the president.

"People will be saying that this issue was raised and funded by foreign people and Indonesia is being controlled by a foreign power," spokesman for the Jakarta-based group said on Tuesday.

"The best way for now would be to adopt a diplomatic approach and focus efforts on trying to reduce the sentence."

However, Mr McMahon said mercycampaign.org website, which is organised by a group of Melbourne lawyers, was by no means disrespectful to Indonesia or its people.

"It's inevitable that there will be discussion, which of course increases pressure on me, on my clients on death row, on all the decision-makers, politicians and diplomats involved. So I want to see that debate done in the best way possible," he said.

"I have no doubt that people who read it will find the website respectful, and a sensible way of progressing the inevitable public debate, whatever their views about the death penalty.

Dr Yudhoyono has previously indicated he is reluctant to show mercy to people facing death sentences, and in particular those convicted of drug trafficking offences.

But he has also recently criticised Saudi Arabia for executing an Indonesian maid convicted of murder and has also stepped in to save another maid who was facing death after being convicted by a Riyadh court of killing a relative of her Yemeni employer.

Source: AAP, July 20, 2011

The online petition can be signed here.

23 hours ago

Sukumaran was the last of the Bali Nine with an appeal pending, and like fellow member Andrew Chan, must now rely on clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono if he is to avoid a firing squad. ...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

_________________________

Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Comments

Tennessee executes Harold Wayne Nichols

Thirty-seven years after confessing to a series of rapes and the murder of Karen Pulley, Nichols expressed remorse in final words Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday morning, Harold Wayne Nichols made a final statement. “To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” he said, according to prison officials and media witnesses. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”

China | Former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui executed for taking US$155 million in bribes

Bai is the second senior figure from Huarong to be put to death for corruption following the execution of Lai Xiaomin in 2021 China has executed a former senior banker who was found guilty of taking more than 1.1 billion yuan (US$155 million) in bribes. Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of the asset management firm China Huarong International Holdings, was executed on Tuesday after the Supreme People’s Court approved the sentence, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Iran | Child Bride Saved from the Gallows After Blood Money Raised Through Donations, Charities

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 9, 2025: Goli Kouhkan, a 25-year-old undocumented Baluch child bride who was scheduled to be executed within weeks, has been saved from the gallows after the diya (blood money) was raised in time. According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency , the plaintiffs in the case of Goli Kouhkan, have agreed to forgo their right to execution as retribution. In a video, the victim’s parents are seen signing the relevant documents. Goli’s lawyer, Parand Gharahdaghi, confirmed in a social media post that the original 10 billion (approx. 100,000 euros) toman diya was reduced to 8 billion tomans (approx. 80,000 euros) and had been raised through donations and charities.

Who Gets Hanged in Singapore?

Singapore’s death penalty has been in the news again. Enshrined in law in 1975, a decade after the island split from Malaysia and became an independent state, the penalty can see people sentenced to hang for drug trafficking, murder or firearms offenses, among other crimes. Executions have often involved trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with offenses measured in grams. Those executed have included people from low-income backgrounds and foreign nationals who are sometimes not fluent in English, according to human rights advocates such as Amnesty International and the International Drug Policy Consortium.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

USA | Should Medical Research Regulations and Informed Consent Principles Apply to States’ Use of Experimental Execution Methods?

New drugs and medical treatments undergo rigorous testing to ensure they are safe and effective for public use. Under federal and state regulations, this testing typically involves clinical trials with human subjects, who face significant health and safety risks as the first people exposed to experimental treatments. That is why the law requires them to be fully informed of the potential effects and give their voluntary consent to participate in trials. Yet these regulations have not been followed when states seek to use novel and untested execution methods — subjecting prisoners to potentially torturous and unconstitutionally painful deaths. Some experts and advocates argue that states must be bound by the ethical and human rights principles of biomedical research before using these methods on prisoners.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog