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One year on, next round of executions looms
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Activists from a migrant workers community hold a candlelit prayer meeting displaying posters of condemned Filipina Mary Jane Veloso in front of the State Palace in Jakarta last year, demanding the government abolish the death penalty.
(TEMPO/Imam Sukamto)
A
year since the last round of executions by the government inspired international outrage, talks are growing regarding the next batch of condemned drug criminals set to face the firing squad.
"Implementation of the law in Indonesia, including the death penalty, does not violate any international laws. There are no restrictions on the death penalty," Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters on Thursday when questioned about capital punishment.
Indonesian law, he continued, must be respected by both national citizens and the international community, adding that the government on principle did not meddle in the application of the law in other nations, and as such did not expect other nations to interfere in the application of the law in Indonesia.
The Foreign Ministry has not received any information on the date of the next executions or those to be executed, the spokesman confirmed.
Earlier this month, Cilacap Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ulung Sampurna Jaya said the third batch of executions to be carried out under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration would be conducted "in a matter of weeks".
Two British people are thought to be among the group earmarked for death.
Security measures around Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap, Central Java, have been prepared in anticipation, Ulung said.
The police chief said a number of locations were under tight guard by police Mobile Brigade personnel, especially maximum security prison Pasir Putih.
The international community condemned Indonesia after eight men were executed on Nusakambangan last year.
Those executed were Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Martin Anderson, Sylvester Nwolise, Okwudili Oyatanze and Raheem Salami and Indonesian Zainal Badarudin.
The country's relations with Australia and Brazil, especially, turned sour after the government repeatedly rejected pleas to spare their citizens.
According to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), there were 64 drug convicts on death row as of 2015. To date, 14 drug convicts have been executed in separate rounds on January 18 and April 29 last year, with six and eight people in each batch, respectively.
The AGO recently confirmed that the government would continue with further executions this year, but the exact time and location have not yet been confirmed. (dan)
