Attorney General H. Muhammad Prasetyo said as many as 14 people were originally set to face the firing squad together on Friday, but officials decided that a “comprehensive review” was needed to “avoid any mistakes” in the 10 cases.
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The group, including foreigners from Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Zimbabwe as well as Indonesians, have been placed in isolation on a prison island where Jakarta carries out executions.
The ambassador said he was informed by an official from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, who has been temporarily stationed near Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap, Central Java, and was responsible for communicating with foreign missions whose citizens are on death row.
In fact, despite its draconian approach to drug smuggling and trafficking, Indonesia had executed relatively few prisoners in recent years, reports the New York Times, “despite having dozens of convicts on death row”.
Ahead of the planned executions, the European Union (EU) called on Indonesia to stop all executions and join a global community which does not use the death penalty.
The Indonesian government says the death penalty is necessary for drug crimes because the country is facing a drug epidemic, particularly affecting young people.
The attorney general’s office had said late Wednesday that 14 convicts would be executed “soon”. In March 2013, the country resumed executions specifically for drugs-related crimes after four years of not executing.
From Lahore, Ali’s sister Humaira Bibi on Wednesday made an emotional appeal to the Indonesian government to spare the life of her ailing brother.
Following the announcement, family members, NGOs, civil rights activists and the Pakistani government had been pressurizing the Indonesian government to cancel the execution of Zulfiqar Ali.
Ban recalled that under worldwide law, the death penalty should be used for the most serious crimes and said, “drug crimes are generally not considered to meet this threshold”.
“The executions were for now conducted on four convicts on death row”, he said hinting that the executions may be spread over multiple days. Past year authorities killed 14 convicted drug offenders and another 16 prisoners are on the execution docket for 2016. Igweh, during his last session in court, had revealed how Indonesian police electrocuted his genitals to force him to confess to possessing heroin.
“Such death sentences are unlawful and tantamount to an arbitrary execution as they are undertaken in contravention of Indonesia’s worldwide human rights obligations”, the United Nations said in a statement on Thursday.
He said decisions about executives of 10 further convicted would be announced later.
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The executions could take place as early as Friday.
