“The execution of at least four people tonight by the Indonesian authorities is a deplorable act that violates worldwide law”, said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific. “The injustice already done can not be reversed, but there is still hope that it won’t be compounded”, said Amnesty’s director for south-east Asia and the Pacific Rafendi Djamin.
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Three Africans and an Indonesian man, all sentenced to death for drug offences, were shot by the firing squad at the Nusakambangan prison island. Authorities are supposed to give those on death row 72-hour notice of the date.
“I can confirm that Zulfiqar Ali’s execution has been halted”.
The executions have been condemned internationally, with leaders and human rights organisations appealing to Indonesia to stop the killings.
It was the third batch of executions under Widodo, and means 18 drug convicts – mostly foreigners – have been put to death since he became leader in 2014. He said that he has also received some SMS about the execution of the Pakistani national. “He still has time to pull back from these unlawful executions, before inviting global notoriety”.
It was not immediately clear when the remaining 10 convicts will be executed, but all of them have been held in isolation cells since last weekend.
Rafendi Djamin fights for justice with Amnesty International and has spoken out about the four deaths overnight.
“All the others are still waiting their trials to be reexamined”, Vaessen said. A decision about other executions would be announced at a later time, he said. “When this process in not respected, that means that this is no longer a country that upholds the law, nor human rights”, he said.
Rights groups have mounted a campaign to save her, and 10 women’s rights activists were detained by police Thursday in Cilacap – the port city closest to the prison island – as they rallied in support of her.
Under the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a total of 21 convicts were executed from 2005 to 2013.
Pakistan had been angered about the planned execution of Zulfiqar – who rights groups claim was beaten into confessing – and summoned Indonesia’s ambassador in Islamabad this week to convey their concerns.
But the notion that the death penalty has a useful deterrent effect has been debunked.
“I do know my son who you brutally took from me past year as he was executed in the most disgusting way”, Sukumaran continued.
“We think that this is a moratorium of death penalty”.
They were put to death shortly after midnight, Noor Rachmad, deputy attorney general for general crimes, told reporters.
Agung did defend the capital punishment however, saying “drugs can damage the nation’s next generation”.
“Our battle against drug crimes is not over and it will continue”.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, nearly 152 people are on a death row in Indonesia.
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The four already killed were executed by separate firing squads on Nusakambangan, an island dubbed Indonesia’s Alcatraz that lies off the southern coast of Java.
