April 23
INDONESIA:
Bali 9 Executions: Indonesian Prosecutors Prepare Death Penalty For Australian
Drug Smugglers Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran
Indonesian prosecutors were instructed Thursday to officially begin preparing
to execute the leaders of the Bali 9 drug ring. The Australian Broadcasting
Corporation reported that Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, plus 8
other death row inmates, are expected to soon face a firing squad. The date of
their executions has not yet been announced.
This could indicate that Chan and Sukumaran, who were convicted in 2006 for
trying to smuggle $4 million of heroin out of Indonesia, are out of options.
Other members of the Bali Nine received imprisonment for their crimes, but the
courts repeatedly turned down Chan and Sukumaran's appeals to reduce their
sentence. President Joko Widodo also rejected their clemency pleas. "We already
gave the maximum legal avenues to find the most fair legal verdict," he said
this month. "It is only a matter of time."
The death sentences for Chan, Sukumaran and the others have been delayed since
February, but Indonesia Attorney General spokesman Tony Spontana said the
courts have only one legal matter left to resolve. It concerns another inmate
and should be wrapped up within the next few days.
As such, on Thursday he said the government sent letters to prosecutors for
"preparation, implementation and reporting after the execution," according to
news.au.com. Death row inmates must be given three days' notice before they are
killed.
Widodo has previously said that sentencing smugglers to death represents an
"important shock therapy" for people considering violating Indonesia's laws. In
December 2014, 64 of the 136 people on Indonesia's death row were convicted for
drug trafficking, according to Human Rights Watch.
People worldwide have criticized the Indonesian courts over perceived
inconsistencies in handing down sentences. For example, inmates in a similar
case to the Bali 9 -- Iranians Mosavipour bin Sayed Abdollah and Moradalivand
bin Moradali? -- successfully had their death sentences commuted to life last
month. They had been caught picking up bags of methamphetamines.
(source: IB Times)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
