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Constitutional Court turns down review on execution procedure law
The three Bali bombers currently on death row would definitely face execution by firing squad as the Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected a last-ditch petition questioning execution procedures
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The three Bali bombers currently on death row would definitely face execution by firing squad as the Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected a last-ditch petition questioning execution procedures.
The Court ruled that execution by firing squad, as stipulated in the 1964 law on execution procedures, did not violate the Constitution as claimed by the plaintiffs.
"The reasons given by the plaintiffs are baseless, thus should be rejected," Chief Judge Mahfud MD said while reading the verdict.
"Any pain caused by the shooting is an unavoidable logical consequence, and is not torture."
The brief was filed by Muslim Defense Team, which defended Ali Ghufron, Amrozi and Imam Samudra. The three were sentenced to death for their central role in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.
The plaintiffs argued execution by firing squad would inflict torture on the condemned and was a violation of Indonesia's Constitution which bans torture. They asked the court to find the law on execution procedures to be not legally binding.
They said such a procedure could cause torturous pain due to the probability the convicted bombers might still be alive after being shot, thus violating their constitutional right of freedom from torture.
They requested another procedure which they considered less painful: euthanasia or lethal injection.
This petition was seen as the defense team's last-ditch efforts to delay the bombers' execution.
Mahfud said any method of execution would definitely caused pain, and shooting always bore the risk of inaccuracy, but it still did not constitute torture.
He added pain could be minimized in any method, as long as it was conducted properly.
One of the convicted men's lawyers, Wirawan Adnan, said after the court session his team respected the ruling.
"We appreciate the ruling and note it also calls for the government to review the 1964 law to make it a more 'humane' law." He added the decision to file the brief was not merely for the sake of his clients but to reinforce constitutional principles more generally.
Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said separately the Attorney General's Office was ready to execute the Bali bombers. "The AGO has prepared the firing squad for the execution." Any firm execution date has not been made public.
