FEATURED POST

California | San Quentin begins prison reform - but not for those on death row

Image
California is transferring everyone on death row at San Quentin prison to other places, as it tries to reinvent the state's most notorious facility as a rehabilitation centre. Many in this group will now have new freedoms. But they are also asking why they've been excluded from the reform - and whether they'll be safe in new prisons. Keith Doolin still remembers the day in 2019 when workers came to dismantle one of the United States' most infamous death chambers.

Indonesia Plans to Execute 18 Drug Convicts This Year, 30 in 2017

The Indonesian government plans to execute 30 death row convicts in 2017, a deputy attorney general says.

"The number of convicts to be executed is expected to be 30" next year, Deputy Attorney General Bambang Waluyo told lawmakers during a parliamentary hearing on Monday, Tribun News reported.

This year, his office is preparing to execute 18 convicts after the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday that ends the holy month of Ramadan, expected to fall on July 6, Bambang reportedly said.

A spokesman for the attorney general's office could not be reached by phone.

At least 121 people are on death row in Indonesia, including 35 foreigners, mostly convicted of drug-related crimes, according to the Justice Ministry.

They include Mary Jane Veloso from the Philippines, Lindsay Sandiford from Britain and Frenchman Serge Atlaoui.

Last year Indonesia executed 14 convicts, all but two of them foreigners, in a move that drew international condemnation.

Australian duo Myuran Sukumaran and fellow convicted drug smuggler Andrew Chan were among those executed by firing squad on Indonesia's Nusakambangan island on April 29, 2015.

Under Indonesian law, each convict would face a squad of 10 gunmen.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014, has taken a tough stance against drug trafficking, saying that the country is facing a drug emergency.

Source: The Mercury, June 13, 2016


Indonesia Plans to Execute 18 Drug Convicts This Year, 30 in 2017

Jakarta. The Indonesian government plans to execute 18 drug convicts this year, and 30 more in 2017, Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo said on Monday (13/06).

The third round of executions will take place on the notorious Nusakambangan Island in Cilacap, Central Java, after the Idul Fitri holidays early next month, Prasetyo said during a meeting with House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs.

"I hope there will be no changes. We have planned it to take place after the fasting month at Nusakambangan. Some convicts [on death row] have been moved there," Prasetyo said, as quoted by Detik.com.

The number of prisoners in this round of executions is still being decided, he said, as authorities weigh up the Nusakambangan facility and its capacity.

Prasetyo said the government would execute 30 more drug convicts in 2017 as it ramps up its war against drugs.

"The budget has been allocated for the death penalty. We still have 58 drug convicts on the death row list, and another 152 death row inmates for crimes such as murder, terrorism and others," the attorney general said.

Indonesia executed 14 convicts by firing squad last year, including citizens of Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands and Nigeria, despite repeated pleas for mercy from foreign governments and international organizations and activists.

Australia temporarily recalled its ambassador to Indonesia after the executions of two of the infamous "Bali Nine" drug smugglers, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. The relationship has since been restored.

Source: Jakarta Globe, June 13, 2016

- Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com - Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

‘A Short Film About Killing’: The movie that brought an end to the Polish death penalty

California | San Quentin begins prison reform - but not for those on death row

Bali | British grandmother on death row for more than 10 years for drug smuggling given ‘one final hope of escape'

Congo reinstates death penalty after 20-year hiatus

Georgia Court Case Tests the Limits of Execution Secrecy in the United States

Georgia | Death penalty trial for accused Atlanta spa shooter in limbo

Alabama | Judge formally imposes death penalty on man who gunned down Mobile cop

Malaysia | Death sentence commuted for ex-cop who killed toddler, babysitter

Iran | Man executed in Qazvin