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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.

Lindsay Sandiford's death row case raised by David Cameron in Indonesia

Lindsay Sandiford in her Kerobokan death-row cell
Lindsay Sandiford in her Kerobokan death-row cell
The Prime Minister, who is on a tour of Indonesia, raises case of British grandmother convicted of dug trafficking

David Cameron has raised the case of Lindsay Sandiford, the British grandmother on death row, with his Indonesian counterpart.

Mr Cameron discussed her case with President Jokowi of Indonesia at a meeting in Jakarta.

Sandiford, who is in her late fifties and originally from Redcar, Teesside, was sentenced to death in January 2013 in Bali after being convicted of trafficking drugs.

She was found with cocaine worth an estimated £1.6 million as she arrived in Bali on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand.

She can expect to be killed by firing squad.

Asked about the case, the Prime Minister said: “On the issue of prisoners, I always raise these issues wherever I travel around the world, and will do so here.

“I want to do it in a way I hope will help the family concerned, and obviously will listen to the concerns of the families and their views before doing these things. That is the right way to proceed - to try and help.”

Sandiford admitted the offences, but claimed she had been coerced by threats to her son’s life. She has appealed against the case without success.

In April the Indonesia authorities executed eight convicted drug smugglers, including two Australians, who had been jailed alongside Sandiford. She said she was “deeply saddened” by their “senseless, brutal” deaths.

Source: The Telegraph, Matthew Holehouse, July 27, 2015

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