FEATURED POST

To U.S. Death Row Inmates, Today's Election is a Matter of Life or Death

Image
You don't have to tell Daniel Troya and the 40 other denizens of federal death row locked in shed-sized solitary cells for 23 hours a day, every day, that elections have consequences. To them, from inside the U.S. government's only death row located in Terre Haute, Indiana, Tuesday's election is quite literally a matter of life and death: If Kamala Harris wins, they live; if Donald Trump wins, they die. "He's gonna kill everyone here that he can," Troya, 41, said in an email from behind bars. "That's as easy to predict as the sun rising."

Bali nine: executions could be delayed months as judges re-examine Filipina maid's case

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso
Jakarta: The Indonesian Supreme Court has agreed to review the case of a Filipina drug courier scheduled to be shot at the same time as the Bali nine duo, potentially delaying the executions for months.

The decision is significant for Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan because Indonesian authorities have consistently said they intend to execute all 10 drug felons simultaneously.

Supreme Court spokesman Suhadi said a panel of judges would be appointed this week.

"After that the panel will examine and study her case. It will take months," he said in Kompas newspaper on Tuesday.

Filipina domestic worker Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso was sentenced to death in 2010 for attempting to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of heroin from Malaysia to Yogyakarta. Veloso maintains she was deceived by an acquaintance and did not know the drugs were in her suitcase.

Her lawyer argued she deserved a case review because the translator during her trial was only a student who did not have a license from the Association of Indonesian Translators.

Case reviews take up to three months to be determined.

On March 12, Attorney-General spokesman Tony Spontana said Indonesian authorities would wait on the result of all legal processes lodged by the felons on death row before proceeding with the executions.

He said simultaneous executions were "more efficient and effective".

"We don't want one to have to wait for another's execution before his own. That will affect the convicts' psychological state," he said.

Nine of the 10 drug felons are now understood to have launched legal proceedings.

Chan and Sukumaran will have an appeal against the rejection of their clemency plea heard on Thursday. The Judicial Commission is also investigating claims the judges who sentenced them to death offered a lighter sentence in exchange for bribes.

And the family of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, are fighting for his life to be spared on the grounds he is mentally ill.


Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Jewel Topsfield, March 17, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

To U.S. Death Row Inmates, Today's Election is a Matter of Life or Death

Idaho | Federal Judge Grants Stay of Execution for Thomas Creech; Defense Asks Court to Bar Death Penalty for Bryan Kohberger

Indiana | Media unlikely to witness first execution in 15 years

Afghanistan | Taliban Carry Out Sixth Public Execution Since 2021

China | Three child rapists executed after top court approves sentence

Iran hangs man 'for second time' after previous execution halted: NGO

Burkina Faso aims to reinstate death penalty, government source says

U.S. will appeal judge's ruling that 9/11 defendants can plead guilty and avoid the death penalty