Of the more than 1,600 publicly announced executions past year, Amnesty says almost 90 percent of them were in three countries: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran.
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Indonesia’s Attorney-General confirmed that the country is set to execute more drug convicts this week.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the European Union also voiced strong opposition to the plan.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo vowed to take a hard line against drug trafficking when he was elected in 2014, saying he would not compromise over death sentences to convicted drug dealers.
Indonesia has executed four drug convicts, despite continuing criticism of the country’s harsh anti-drugs laws. It could be related to a major storm that plagued Nusa Kambangan island overnight but it could also be that Indonesian authorities need to recheck the legal aspects of these executions.
A firing squad, between five to 10 metres away, will wait for their commander to call for the prisoners’ spiritual advisers to stand aside.
The protesters were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against executions.
If the prisoner does not die immediately, an officer will be asked to shoot them in the head.
Indian and Pakistani officials said they were making last-minute efforts to save their citizens.
“My brother is not a drug smuggler”.
Zulfiqar had filed a clemency appeal to the Indonesian president a day earlier. He has already spent several years in prison.
Seck Osmane is a South African, who was arrested for dealing drugs in 2004. A co-accused in the case, Gurdip Singh, retracted his statement against Zulfiqar, saying the confession had been coerced from him.
Deputy Attorney-General for General Crimes, Noor Rachmad, made the announcement and reiterated that Indonesia does not want to kill people, it just wants to stop the drug trafficking and this is the only way to do it.
But Indonesia refuses to yield in the face of condemnation. He said that he has also received some SMS about the execution of the Pakistani national. A few things we won’t tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women, which has been lobbying for Utami to receive clemency, called for answers over the fate of the 10 remaining prisoners.
(AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary). Family members and relatives of Zulfikar Ali, who is convicted of drug crimes, demand his release during a protest outside the Provincial assembly, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, July 27, 2016.
Support for the death penalty in Indonesia is generally high but there has been some public opposition.
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Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria had earlier told APP Thursday morning that Pakistan government had taken up the issue appropriately through diplomatic and political channels and would not lose hope till last moment.
