Death Penalty News

Indonesia: Stop executions! Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto has stressed that the government would not consider abolishing the death penalty, and therefore there was no need to evaluate prevailing laws. "This is our law. Despite some pressures on us, we have our national legal jurisdiction," Wiranto said on Tuesday. The death penalty is a harsh punishment, he said, but it is needed to protect many people from the dangers of narcotics and related crimes. Wiranto's statement ran directly against that of Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, who said that the government and House of Representatives planned to evaluate the death penalty . Human rights groups and the international community have long urged the government to abolish or adopt a moratorium on the death penalty, saying that it is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which has also failed to create a deterrent effect. Indonesia executed 4 drug convicts in the ea...

Activists hold posters which read "Jokowi, stop the executions!" during a candlelit vigil outside the presidential palace in Jakarta. Photo: AP Yet again on Friday morning, Indonesia showed its most brutal and ugly face to the world. Despite worldwide protests and serious questions concerning their guilt, and allegations of torture, rape and coerced confessions, Indonesia moved to execute 14 people convicted of drug-related crimes in President Widodo's so-called "war on drugs". Only four were executed; however, the 180 riflemen assigned to carry out the executions are still on the island, and reporters have been told that the others will face an execution squad "later". This is the third round of executions since Joko Widodo came to power in 2014. Six people were executed in the first round, but a second round in April 2015, which included Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, caused international tumult, and resulted in the r...

Batu prison's isolation cells on Nusakambangan island, Indonesia The government's statement comes just hours after it executed 4 drug convicts including 3 foreigners It looks as if international and local pressure on the Indonesian government to abolish the death penalty is making some progress. On Friday, July 29, the same day Indonesia executed 4 drug convicts 45 minutes after midnight, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung said the government would rethink its stance. "The government is taking everything into consideration, because this is not an enjoyable thing to do," he said, echoing the words of Deputy Attorney General Noor Rachmad, who during his 2am announcement that 4 had been executed, said the job was not enjoyable but something they must do. Agung did defend the capital punishment however, saying "drugs can damage the nation's next generation." "Executing drug convicts is for the protection of the Indonesian nation fr...

Jakarta. Despite international calls to abandon the death penalty altogether, the government went ahead with the third round of executions at the notorious Nusakambangan prison island, Central Java, early Friday (29/07). The executions commenced slightly after midnight, after postponed by falling tents due to heavy rain and strong wind. “[The executions] was at 00.45 a.m.,” said an unnamed source as quoted by Antara. However, the number of executed inmates was not revealed, as authorities have yet to announce an official statement. Family members of the inmates were also not notified on the time of the executions. Previously, Attornery General H.M. Prasetyo had mentioned that 14 death row inmates – all of whom drug traffickers – were part of the third round of executions. Four Indonesian citizens have been included in the list: Freddy Budiman, Merri Utami, Pujo Lestari and Agus Hadi. Meanwhile, the remaining are foreign nationals from Pakistan, Zulfiqar A...

“If nothing has changed, there will be 14 people.”: AG Coffins taken to Nusa Kambangan in preparation for firing squad deaths, as country carries out first executions since Bali Nine pair and six others last year Spiritual advisers and families of inmates on death row in Indonesia have been told to prepare for executions tonight as coffins were ferried to the prison island of Nusa Kambangan on Thursday morning. Lawyer Ricky Gunawan, who acts for Merri Utami, a former Indonesian migrant worker on death row, said her spiritual adviser had been informed the executions would take place overnight. “The priest who assists Merri, he was told to prepare for tonight,” said Gunawan, the director of the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH), which is representing Utami, and this week filed a clemency appeal to the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, on her behalf. Syed Zahid Raza, the deputy Pakistani ambassador in Jakarta, said the family of a Pakistani man on death row, Zulfiq...

Merri Utami Female migrant workers are perfect targets for drug traffickers as they are often poor but hold passports, campaigners say JAKARTA, July 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The case of an Indonesian woman expected to be executed this week for drug trafficking highlights the risk to migrant workers of being duped into becoming drug mules, human rights campaigners said. Merri Utami , who was convicted in 2003 of smuggling 1.1 kgs of heroin into Indonesia, is believed to be among 14 drug convicts due to be executed this weekend. The Indonesian government has not released the names of the 14 but Utami has been transferred to the execution site and activists said she is among those moved. U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein called for Indonesia to immediately reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty that was suspended in 2013, and not proceed with the reportedly imminent executions. According to Indonesia's women's rights commissi...

Indonesia is running a serious risk of executing innocent persons if it insists on going ahead with the executions of 14 death row convicts, expected on Friday. The convicts, who have received official notification letters of their forthcoming execution on Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap, Central Java, are Indonesians Agus Hadi Bin Hadi, Freddy Budiman Bin H. Manan, Merri Utami and Pujo Lestari Bin Sukatno, Eugene Ape from Nigeria, Fredderikk Luttar (Zimbabwe), Humphery Jefferson Ejike Eleweke (Nigeria), Gurdip Singh (India), Michael Titus Igweh (Nigeria), Obina Nwajagu Bin Emeuwa (Nigeria), Okonkwo Nongso Kingsley (Nigeria), 0zias Sibanda (Zimbabwe), Seck Osmane (Nigeria, but Senegalese passport holder) and Zulfiqar Ali of Pakistan . More people have stepped forward to urge President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo not to proceed with the executions because of possible miscarriages of justice. Pakistani convict Ali has been suffering from the effects of liver damage ...