8 foreign drug suspects in Indonesia told they will die
Print Edition
INDONESIA said yesterday it has officially notified eight foreign drug convicts that they will be executed, but a Frenchman was granted a temporary reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure on Jakarta.
The eight — from Australia, Brazil, Nigeria and the Philippines — have been transported to the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan where they will face a firing squad along with an Indonesian prisoner, despite strident international criticism.
“Today, just now, we just finished notifying every convict, nine people except for Serge,” said Tony Spontana, a spokesman for the attorney-general’s office, adding that it will be at least three days until the sentences are carried out.
“We have also asked for their last wish,” he said.
Officials said earlier that Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, who was expected to be among the group being put to death, will not be included in the forthcoming batch as he still has an outstanding legal appeal.
Spontana did not give a date for the executions, but a lawyer for Filipina Mary Jane Veloso said she had been told she will be put to death on Tuesday.
The news that the execution procedure is under way, after weeks of delays, came after Indonesian officials met diplomats yesterday in a town near Nusakambangan. The consular officials then traveled to the island to visit inmates.
The foreign drug convicts have all lost appeals for clemency from President Joko Widodo, who argues that Indonesia is fighting a drugs emergency.
The Australian government said it had been informed that the execution of its citizens — Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan — was “imminent.”
“Nothing can be gained and much will be lost if these young Australians are executed,” said Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
“I again respectfully call on the president of Indonesia to reconsider his refusal to grant clemency.”
Minnie Lopez, a lawyer for Veloso, said: “We were informed by Mary Jane herself that she received the notice that the sentence will be implemented on April 28.”
The news of Atlaoui’s reprieve came after France stepped up pressure on Jakarta to change course, and President Francois Hollande warned yesterday of “consequences with France and Europe” if he was put to death.
Widodo has previously ignored appeals on the convicts’ behalf from their governments, social media and from others such as band Napalm Death — the president is a huge heavy metal fan.
The Australian government has mounted a campaign to save its citizens, ringleaders of the “Bali Nine” heroin-smuggling gang, saying they are reformed characters after a decade behind bars.
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