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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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Indonesia executions a blow to Bali 3

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June 27, 2008

JAKARTA: Indonesia has executed two foreign drug traffickers, in a major blow for the three Australians on death row for heroin smuggling.

The first drug executions in four years came as Indonesia vowed to expedite the execution of the other traffickers on death row.

Nigerian nationals Hansen Anthony Nwaolisa, 40, and Samuel Iwuchukwu Okoye, 37, were shot by firing squad at midnight local time (3am AEST), Central Java police mobile brigade chief Colonel Dicky Atotoy said.

“At 0000 the execution was carried out on the two Nigerians,” he said.

“Before the execution they were blessed by two priests.

“They were handcuffed to poles, standing side by side and shot by two sniper squads.”

Nwaolisa was sentenced to death for trafficking 600 grams of heroin in 43 capsules which he had swallowed in Pakistan before arriving at Jakarta airport in January 2001.

Okoye was caught carrying 3.8kg of heroin in the lining of two pieces of luggage at Jakarta airport, after arriving from India, also in January 2001.

He told police he was supposed to pass the goods on to an Australian known only as “Ron” in Jakarta.

Both men were sentenced to death in mid-2001, with their final appeals for clemency rejected in July 2004.

Attorney-General Hendarman Supandji said other drug offenders on death row could expect their cases to be expedited.

Almost half of about 60 people on death row over drug offences in Indonesia are foreigners.

“They are all still in the (legal) process and will be accelerated according to existing regulations,” the Antara news agency quoted him as saying yesterday.

The head of Indonesia's anti-drugs body also said executions must take place more quickly to deter traffickers.

The comments are a blow for the three Australians on death row over the failed Bali Nine plot to smuggle more than eight kg of heroin to Australia in 2005.

Bali Nine drug mule Scott Rush and ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran failed in a legal challenge to Indonesia's harsh drug laws last year.

They still have the option of seeking a judicial review of their death sentences, and a clemency appeal to the president.

Source : AAP
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