Unswayed by World Leaders’ Pleas, Jokowi Pushes Ahead With Executions

Indonesian gunboats guard the waters surrounding Nusakambangan

prison island where Indonesia carries out its executions.

‘Firm Stance’: Indonesia’s unyielding position on capital punishment has transformed into an issue of national pride

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday the planned execution of 11 convicts on death row, most on drugs charges, would not be delayed despite concerted pleas from several world leaders. Instead, he warned foreign countries not to intervene with his government’s right to impose the capital punishment.

Joko has denied clemency to the death-row prisoners despite repeated pleas for mercy from Australia, Brazil and France, all of whom have citizens due to be executed by an Indonesian firing squad.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made a similar appeal to Indonesia last Friday.

Eleven inmates are due to face the firing squad after Joko rejected their requests for clemency in January.

“I will say this firmly: no one may intervene with the executions because it is our sovereign right to exercise our laws,” Joko told reporters.

He said he had taken calls from the leaders of France, Brazil and the Netherlands about Indonesia’s use of the death penalty but made no mention of Australia.

Two Australians are among the 11 on death row.

The president did not say when the executions would be carried out.

In a special interview with BeritaSatu Media Holdings on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi asserted that Indonesia would not back down from its decision to execute foreign drug-trafficking inmates on death row, even despite risks of disrupting diplomatic ties with the prisoners’ countries of origin.

“Indonesia is always open [to suggestions]. Wherever I go, I always say that we’re ready to cooperate, to boost our partnerships with any countries and we’ve communicated with them under the spirit of friendship,” Retno said in her office in Jakarta. “But when it reaches a point where they offend our dignity as a nation, that is where we must take a firm and dignified stance [against them].”

The minister was speaking in light of a diplomatic row with Brazil and an increasingly heated dispute with Australia over the execution of a Brazilian in January, as well as the planned executions of another Brazilian and two Australian nationals slated for next month.

Indonesia ended its unofficial moratorium on the death penalty last month [January 2015] when it executed six prisoners, five of whom were foreign nationals.

Joko has repeatedly asserted that Indonesia is in a “state of emergency” concerning drug use, citing National Narcotics Agency (BNN) data, which claim Indonesia has over 4.5 million drug users. Between 40 and 50 people, the agency says, die every day from drug use.

Opponents of the death penalty have disputed these figures.

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Source: The Jakarta Globe, February 25, 2015

Will Widodo the Merciful Ever Have to Beg for Clemency?

229 Indonesians face death penalty abroad

The Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday that there were 229 Indonesians abroad facing capital punishment for various crimes.

"Most of them are in Malaysia with 168 cases, Saudi Arabia with 38 and China with 15," stated the ministry's directorate for Indonesian nationals' protection and legal aid as quoted by Antara news agency.

The directorate also revealed that 131 of the cases were related to drugs, while 77 of them were related to murder.

"Regarding the drug cases, 112 are in Malaysia, 15 in China, 2 in Laos, 1 in Singapore and another one in Vietnam," the directorate stated.The Foreign Ministry had handled 9,290 legal cases abroad as of September 2014, with most of the cases relating to migrant workers and ship crewmembers.

Source: The Jakarta Post, February 24, 2015

Military aircraft to fly convicts to Central Java

Sukhoi jet fighters in Bali

Bali Prosecutor’s Office chief Momock Bambang Samiarso has confirmed media reports that the two Australians convicted of drug trafficking will be flown by military aircraft to Nusakambangan prison island in Central Java, where they will face the firing squad in the near future.

His announcement was a follow-up to a statement by Maj. Gen. Torry Djohar Banguntoro of the Udayana Regional Military Command (Kodam IX), covering Bali and East and West Nusa Tenggara, on Monday. Torry said that the Indonesian Military would deploy a squadron of Sukhoi jet fighters to escort the transfer of the two Australians, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, from Kerobokan prison in Denpasar to Nusakambangan.

“Yes, it has already been decided,” Momock said on Tuesday, without specifying what type of aircraft would be used in the operation.

Three Sukhoi jet fighters arrived in Bali from Sultan Hasanuddin Air Force base in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Monday. The aircraft have been parked at the air base at Ngurah Rai International Airport. Colibri-type helicopters and CN-295 aircraft have also been seen at the air base.

The Air Force, however, has denied that the jet fighters are there to safeguard the transfer of the two convicts. A spokesman has described the arrival of the planes as a coincidence.

“We haven’t received any order to escort the death-row prisoners. The jet fighters are in Bali for a joint exercise with Air Force personnel at the Ngurah Rai Air Force base,” Air Force spokesman Air Commodore Hadi Tjahjanto said on Tuesday.

He insisted that the jet fighters were also conducting routine patrols securing Indonesia’s air territory and its borders.

“We’re also conducting the same patrols and exercises at Tarakan, Biak and Medan. These are routine patrols,” Hadi said.

However, Hadi added that the Air Force would always be ready if the government ordered them to secure the transfer.

“No matter what happens, we are always ready,” he said.

Eleven death-row convicts, including Chan and Sukumaran, are scheduled to be executed in Nusakambangan despite a global outcry.

Meanwhile, National Commission on Human Rights commissioner Natalius Pigai visited the two prisoners at Kerobokan prison.

He praised the contribution of the two Australians in teaching skills to other inmates.

“My conclusion is they are good mentors and have made a big contribution, especially to our people […] They have transferred their skills to thousands of prisoners since 2008,” Pigai said.

Chan and Sukumaran, members of the so-called Bali Nine gang of Australian drug smugglers, were arrested when they attempted to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia seven years ago.

Source: The Jakarta Post, February 25, 2015

Island firing range where Bali Nine duo will meet their end revealed

Nusakambangan Island Firing Range (source: ninemsn)

This is the firing range where Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be executed.

The site is located behind a police station and near the water on the prison island of Nusakambangan in central Java, Indonesia.

It was inaugurated at a ceremony last November and is the same site where five drug traffickers were shot dead after midnight on January 18, News Corp reports.

The photo, taken at night, shows how the firing range will be flood lit for the impending executions of the Bali duo and eight others.

It also shows the targets the firing squad use for practice, with the round objects on the target posts set at the average height of a person's heart.

The earthen wall behind the posts is for absorbing rounds behind where the condemned men will stand.

Each victim will face their own 12-man firing squad, with only three shooters in each squad issued with live rounds.

The firing range is set well apart from the high-security prison where Chan and Sukumaran will spend their final days in isolation cells.

News Corp reports that 10 coffins have now arrived in central Java in readiness for the executions.

Source: ninemsn, February 26, 2015 (local time)

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Singapore executes three drug mules over two days

Singapore hanged three people for drug offences last week, bringing the total number of executions to 17 this year - the highest since 2003. These come a week before a constitutional challenge against the death penalty for drug offences is due to be heard. Singapore has some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, which it says are a necessary deterrent to drug crime, a major issue elsewhere in South East Asia. Anyone convicted of trafficking - which includes selling, giving, transporting or administering - more than 15g of diamorphine, 30g of cocaine, 250g of methamphetamine and 500g of cannabis in Singapore will be handed the death sentence.

Florida | After nearly 50 years on death row, Tommy Zeigler seeks final chance at freedom

The Winter Garden Police chief was at a party on Christmas Eve 1975 when he received a phone call from his friend Tommy Zeigler, the owner of a furniture store on Dillard Street. “I’ve been shot, please hurry,” Zeigler told the chief as he struggled for breath. When police arrived at the store, Zeigler, 30, managed to unlock the door and then collapsed “with a gaping bullet hole through his lower abdomen,” court records show. In the store, detectives found a gruesome, bloody crime scene and several guns. Four other people — Zeigler’s wife, his in-laws and a laborer — lay dead.

Louisiana death row inmate freed after nearly 30 years as overturned conviction upends case

A Louisiana man who spent nearly 30 years on death row walked out of prison Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction and granted him bail. Jimmie Duncan, now in his 60s, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a case long clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His release comes months after a state judge ruled that the evidence prosecutors used to secure the conviction was unreliable and rooted in discredited bite-mark analysis.

Vietnam | Woman sentenced to death for poisoning 4 family members with cyanide

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community. The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

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.

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.”

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.

Iran carries out public hanging of "double-rapist"

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Kuwait | New Anti-Drug Law Introduces Death Penalty, Surprise Testing, and Strict Enforcement

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 26: Divorce rates in Kuwait are rising, with recent statistics indicating that addiction—particularly among wives—has become a significant contributing factor. In response, authorities are preparing to introduce surprise premarital drug testing as part of a broader set of reforms under Kuwait’s new drug law. The countdown has officially begun for the enforcement of this new legislation, which was drafted by a judicial committee formed by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef. The committee is headed by Counselor Mohammed Rashid Al-Duaij.

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