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Executions will run as planned: VP
Vice President Jusuf Kalla asserted that the Indonesian government would stick to its plan to execute 11 death row convicts, including Australian and Brazilian drug traffickers, despite strong protests from the governments of their respective countries
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ice President Jusuf Kalla asserted that the Indonesian government would stick to its plan to execute 11 death row convicts, including Australian and Brazilian drug traffickers, despite strong protests from the governments of their respective countries.
'We have repeatedly conveyed that we have our own legal sovereignty; hence, we will carry out the executions,' Kalla told journalists at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday.
'It should be remembered that the death sentences were ruled by the court, not the President,' he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Eleven death row convicts, including Australian drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, will be executed after President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo rejected their clemency requests.
Kalla said he could understand the Australian and Brazilian governments' protests against the executions planned for their citizens.
However, the Vice President said Indonesia had its own legal system which regulated sanctions for drug traffickers. The Indonesian authorities imposed the death sentences after a string of court hearings.
The government has recalled Indonesian ambassador-designate to Brazil, Toto Riyanto, in protest of Brazil's delay in accepting the envoy's credentials on Friday.
Last month, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff expressed her anger over the planned execution of drug convict Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira by recalling the Brazilian ambassador to Indonesia.
Commenting on Brazil's response, Kalla said it was an overreaction.
'We stick to our decision to execute the drug traffickers on death row,' the Vice President said.
'We have also asserted to the Australian government that the execution of their two nationals will go ahead,' he said.
Expressing his disappointment over the planned executions, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said last week that Indonesia should pardon the two Australians on death row in gratitude for his country's aid for victims of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh. (ebf)(++++)
