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Activists applaud clemency for death row convict
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resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has commuted the sentence of drug trafficking convict Merri Utami from the death penalty to life in prison, the convict’s lawyers have said, to the relief of activists who have long been supporting her plea.
The change in sentence was enacted by presidential decree on Feb. 27, some seven years after Merri sent her clemency plea to Jokowi. Merri’s legal team, from the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat), learned about the commutation earlier this month but announced the news only recently.
Her lawyers applauded the decision but expressed their wish that the government lower Merri’s sentence further, as the 49-year-old had spent more than 20 years on death row for drug smuggling.
"Jokowi's move was right, as the death penalty is mostly inflicted on people who are poor, 'legally illiterate' and [belong to] vulnerable groups. Merri Utami is part of such a group, so her death sentence had to be reviewed," Afif Abdul Qoyim, one of Merri’s lawyers, told The Jakarta Post on Monday. "But we also want Merri's life sentence to be commuted so she can be released soon."
Merri was sentenced to death by the Tangerang District Court in 2002 for carrying 1.1 kilograms of heroin from Nepal to Indonesia. She contended that her then-boyfriend had tricked her into bringing the drugs into the country and that she had been tortured into signing a confession of guilt during her interrogation.
Merri was spared execution at the last minute in 2016 after asking for the President’s clemency that same year.
Activists call for presidential pardon for drug convict Merri Utami
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Legal experts and activists of the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) applauded Jokowi's decision to commute Merri’s death sentence.
“This indicates that there is a willingness to further reform the death penalty in Indonesia following a change in the capital punishment policy,” Adhigama Budiman of the ICJR said on Friday.
He was referring to provisions in the new Criminal Code, enacted earlier this year, that offer more progressive sentencing guidelines, with 10 years of probation before execution for every death row convict and the chance of commutation to a life sentence if the convict shows good behavior.
According to ICJR data, 101 of the nation’s death row inmates have spent more than 10 years awaiting execution in the country.
Read also: Jokowi grants 'unprecedented' clemency to death row drug convict
Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid described the decision as "unprecedented" under the Jokowi's administration, AFP reported.
"This is important to show that there is no correlation, let alone causality between the death sentence and the decline in narcotics crimes," said Usman.
Indonesia handed out at least 114 death sentences in 2021, according to AFP, citing Amnesty International data, bringing the number of people on death row in the country to 500, including a number of foreign nationals. As of 2021, 82 percent of all recorded death sentences were given for drug-related offenses, according to the report.
