Indonesia ‘completes’ preparations for executions

Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo

Indonesia’s attorney general announced Friday that all technical preparations for executing drug convicts have been completed, but would not disclose when the next round of inmates would be brought before the firing squad.

"Coordination and preparation have already been handled. Coordination has been completed by all parties concerned," detik.com quoted Muhammad Prasetyo as saying at his office.

“But the timing has not been determined,” he told reporters.

Authorities had earlier said that the death penalties would be implemented after the rainy season, which is predicted to end this month, or after the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, set to end in early July.

Prasetyo reiterated Friday that the first group to be executed at the prison island of Nusakambangan in Central Java would include convicts who had exhausted their legal options, but refused to name them.

He revealed, however, that a Filipina whose execution was delayed last year after her suspected recruiter surrendered to Philippine police would not be among the first round as her case was ongoing in the neighboring country.

"We respect the legal process in the Philippines," kompas.com quoted Prasetyo as saying of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso.

Central Java’s police chief said Thursday that they had prepared the firing squad, spiritual leaders and doctors who would assist the execution process.

"Around the [execution] time and so on, we are waiting on the Attorney General. Police are ready at any time,” national news agency Antara quoted Inspector Gen. Condro Kirono as saying.

He added that the firing squad would be organized at the same location as the two previous executions.

The executions last year were heavily criticized by the international community, with some countries whose nationals had been put to death withdrawing ambassadors from Jakarta.

Indonesia has some of the harshest anti-drugs laws in the world.

Source: Turkish Weekly, Ainur Rohmah, April 29, 2016

Preparations for Third Round of Executions Underway

Jakarta. Preparations for a third round of executions of death-row prisoners are underway, Attorney General M. Prasetyo said on Friday (29/04).

His office has begun coordinating with the appropriate institutions for the executions, which could take place as early as next week.

The date is yet to be determined but Prasetyo said the Nusakambangan prison island off the coast of Cilacap, Central Java, would be "the ideal place."

"We will see later, when [the executions] will take place," Prasetyo was quoted as saying by Tempo.co.

Reports of the planned executions have been widely circulated in recent weeks and it may be scheduled for May 7.

Up to 13 inmates could be executed, with between seven and 10 of them being foreign nationals. Their names have yet to be released

The government executed six prisoners in January 2015, three months before it authorized another six, including two Australian nationals, to die in front of a firing squad.

The two Australians, who were part of the so-called Bali Nine drug ring, were executed one year ago, on April 29.

Source: Jakarta Globe, April 29, 2016

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