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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Indonesia celebrates its Independence Day

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Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir
Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir
Terrorist convict Abu Bakar Ba'asyir gets 3-month sentence cut

Convicted terrorist leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was given a three-month sentence reduction on Independence Day, an official said on Wednesday.

"This is the second year he [Ba'asyir] has been granted an Independence Day remission," said the corrections office chief of the West Java Justice and Human Rights Agency, Agus Toyib, in Bandung, West Java, as reported by Antara news agency.

Ba'asyir had fulfilled administrative requirements for a remission, such as having served one-third of his sentence and cooperating as a justice collaborator, he added.

Ba'asyir, the spiritual leader of Islamic organization Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011 after the South Jakarta District Court declared him guilty of funding a military training camp for a terrorist group in Aceh. He filed for a review of his case, which the Supreme Court rejected in August. After serving time in a high-security prison on Nusakambangan Island in Cilacap, Central Java, the ministry moved Ba'asyir to Gunung Sindur Penitentiary in Bogor, West Java, in April over health concerns for the frail 77-year-old.

The firebrand Muslim cleric was among 11,010 inmates in West Java granted remissions on Independence Day.

Indonesia marks Independence Day by sinking 60 illegal ships


Indonesia marked its Independence Day on Wednesday by sinking 60 foreign ships seized for fishing illegally in the country's waters.

Indonesia celebrates its Independence Day
Indonesia celebrates its Independence Day
Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said the ships were sunk at eight locations across the Indonesian archipelago.

Pudjiastuti has organized the destruction of more than 200 illegal fishing boats since 2014. The government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has taken a hardline stance against illegal fishing, partly driven by the need for Indonesia to show its neighbours, including China, that it is in control of its vast territory of 17,000 islands.

Many of the boats were captured off Indonesia's Natuna Islands, a point from which Indonesia's exclusive economic zone thrusts into the South China Sea. Beijing has described the area as a traditional Chinese fishing ground even though it is nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) from the Chinese mainland.

The sinkings were carried out in a low-key fashion compared with previous occasions, when boats were blown to smithereens and their destruction broadcast live.

Pudjiastuti told a news conference in Ranai, a Natuna Islands port, that the ships were sunk off Ranai, Batam, Tarempa, Kalimantan, Maluku, and Sorong in West Papua to create artificial reefs.

"We do see at the moment the deterrent effect," she said. "I think it is already quite a strong message" to foreign countries and their fishing fleets.

Source: The Jakarta Post, August 17, 2016

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