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Death row convicts’ repatriation reignites calls to abolish capital punishment

The recent repatriation of foreign convicts on death row for drug-related cases should serve as the first step for Indonesia to abolish capital punishment entirely, law and human rights activists have said.

Yerica Lai (The Jakarta Post)
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Wed, December 18, 2024

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Death row convicts’ repatriation reignites calls to abolish capital punishment Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina inmate on death row, waves to journalists on Dec. 15, 2024, outside the Yogyakarta Women's Penitentiary in Wonosari, Yogyakarta before her transfer to Jakarta after Indonesia and the Philippines signed an agreement last week to repatriate her. Mother of two Veloso, 39, was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin, in a case that sparked uproar in the Philippines. (AFP/Devi Rahman)

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resident Prabowo Subianto’s decision to repatriate foreign convicts on death row has reignited calls from human rights advocates for the government to take a bolder stance and abolish capital punishment entirely.

Less than two months into his presidency, Prabowo’s administration agreed to return to their home countries Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina sentenced to death 14 years ago in a drug case, and five Australians who are part of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug ring. The decision was made following diplomatic efforts.

Veloso returned to Manila on Tuesday midnight. Meanwhile, the “Bali Nine” members, who have served nearly 20 years of their life sentences for drug smuggling, returned home as prisoners from Bali to the Australian city of Darwin on Sunday morning.

Observers said the decision marked Prabowo’s shifting stance on the death penalty. His predecessor, former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, stuck to his pledge of being tough on drugs since his first term in 2014, refusing to grant clemency to drug offenders and encouraging police to shoot drug traffickers who resisted arrest.

Veloso and the Bali Nine’s repatriation also gave some hope that the country might abolish capital punishment, said Muhammad Afif from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

“While death sentences are still allowed in the current law, the repatriations underscored that Indonesia continues to implement a de facto moratorium on the death penalty [...] especially after seven years of no executions of death row inmates,” he said.

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Indonesia carried out its last execution in July 2016, when an Indonesian and three foreigners who were all convicted drug offenders were shot by a firing squad.

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