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After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

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Japan should be ensuring the safety of its citizens, but instead it is taking people's lives. Is it acceptable to maintain the ultimate penalty under such circumstances? This is a serious question for society. The acquittal of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who had been handed the death penalty, has been finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal the verdict issued by the Shizuoka District Court during his retrial.

Indonesia: 4 death-row inmates in Yogyakarta awaiting execution

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President Joko Widodo
Four death-row inmates in Wirogunan Penitentiary in Yogyakarta are awaiting execution in the immediate future.

The four are Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, 29; Hardani; Khoirul Anwar and his son, Yonas Revalusi.

Veloso was sentenced to death for her attempt as a courier of an international syndicate to bring 2.622 kilograms of heroin through Adisucipto International Airport into the country on April 24, 2010, and has sought amnesty from the President but is yet to obtain a response.

Hardani, a former police officer, Khoirul and his son were sentenced to death for raping and murdering a student of a vocational high school in Yogyakarta in 2013. They are also seeking amnesty from the President after their appeal was turned down by the Supreme Court.

“There are four death-row inmates in this prison awaiting execution,” tempo.co quoted head of the Law and Human Rights Agency in Yogyakarta, Endang Surdirman, as saying on Wednesday.

Chief warden of Wirogunan Penitentiary, Zainal Arifin, said the four convicts had joined all daily activities in the prison and were allowed to worship according to their own faiths and religion. Church ministers and clerics had been provided to give religious counseling to the inmates. Veloso is a Christian, while the three others are Muslims.

Attorney General HM Prasetya said recently that his side would immediately execute six death-row inmates soon after their request for amnesty and case reviews were turned down.

Two other death-row convicts involved in drug cases have been sent to Nusa Kambangan, Cilacap, Central Java.

The executions scheduled for December 2014 were suspended to give inmates their last chance of submitting a case review or seeking amnesty from the President.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who has declined to give amnesty for major crimes and narcotics convicts, has recently ordered the execution of death-row inmates to uphold legal certainty.

Source: The Jakarta Post, January 07 2015

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