Four people convicted of drug smuggling were executed in Indonesia overnight, marking the first round of executions to happen in Indonesia since two Australians were killed by firing squad past year.
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Those 10 others are foreign nationals from Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali; an Indian national named Gurdip Singh; Nigerians Onkonkwo Nonso Kingsley, Obina Nwajagu, Humprey Ejike, Eugene Ape, Gajetan Acena Seck Osmane and Michael Titus Igweh; as well as two Zimbabwe citizens, Ozias Sibanda and Federik Luttar.
The Nigerians and an Indonesian man were shot by firing squad during a thunderstorm on Nusakambangan Island in Central Java, as the government ignored global calls for clemency and pushed ahead with what it considers a war on drugs.
Despite families calling on the Indonesian Government to “open your hear and forgive” four of the 14 drug convicts slated for executions were shot by a firing squad this morning as heavy rain fell at Nusakambangan island prison in Central Java.
Four inmates – three Nigerians and one Indonesian – were put to death just after midnight.
“When the execution was about to take place, the junior attorney general for general crimes [Noor Rachmad] reported back to me that after conducting a thorough study involving relevant parties, we only needed to execute four people”, he added.
Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said that President Joko Widodo “should not become the most prolific executioner in recent Indonesian history”.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws, and has faced intense criticism internationally for resuming executions.
The Indonesian government has carried out executions of an unspecified number of convicted drug traffickers, according to local television reports. Indonesia says it is facing a drug abuse epidemic and that putting drug traffickers to death will act as a deterrent.
Four other Nigerians are among those awaiting execution.
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Indonesia Aqil Naseem had cited findings of an internal investigation which found “serious breaches of a fair trial” and urged that the case be reviewed.
Indonesia’s attorney-general had stated earlier this week that 14 people, mostly foreigners, would be executed.
“The executions were done not to take their lives, but to stop their crimes”, Noor said.
“His last wish was to be given the opportunity to obtain legal rights like other inmates on death row, the clemency”, said Osmane after viewing his brother’s body.
Rights activists and governments have again called on Indonesia to abolish the death penalty.
Speaking to the press on Friday, Prasetyo said that his office had been set to execute all 14 announced convicts at the scheduled time, but it had also been prepared for unexpected last-minute changes.
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In 2016, the authorities have plans to execute almost 16 prisoners and in the next year the number will be more than double. 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.
