Clock Ticks as Indonesian Execution Spree Looms

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX7eOTdbf1h0bzrSgFnU9y6zVjj5X2OWCyVT4RImf-v_JK8QPWaMEgHcXoMzlFSZHUeRL7hJHC9FHBAnQynEvBPBbkatMZDtSruQCR96vKOT9nY7baRlte5emMTAkjtum2nsf78x6K6bc/s1600/Joko+Widodo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Indonesia's President Joko Widodo" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX7eOTdbf1h0bzrSgFnU9y6zVjj5X2OWCyVT4RImf-v_JK8QPWaMEgHcXoMzlFSZHUeRL7hJHC9FHBAnQynEvBPBbkatMZDtSruQCR96vKOT9nY7baRlte5emMTAkjtum2nsf78x6K6bc/s400/Joko+Widodo.jpg" title="Indonesia's President Joko Widodo" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indonesia's President Joko Widodo</td></tr></tbody></table><i>Hope and Hypocrisy: Despite fighting for the freedom of hundreds of its own citizens facing the death penalty abroad, Indonesia looks set to carry out a spate of executions of foreign nationals. Can international and local activists force the populist Jokowi administration to change its course?</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sixteen executions are expected to soon take place in Indonesia, and most of the people are foreigners convicted of drug crimes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Phelim Kine, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, says Indonesia’s “tragically misguided and wrongheaded” policy could see more than 40 people executed by the end of 2017.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We are greatly concerned because the Indonesian government has made it clear that as soon as Ramadan is over, in early July, they will begin executions again,” Kine told The News Lens International.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indonesia had a de-facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty until 2013, and human rights activists blame President Joko Widodo (often referred to as Jokowi) and his "War on Drugs" for restarting capital punishment. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“What we’ve seen since Jokowi took office in late 2014, is he has made the execution of convicted drug traffickers a signature policy issue,” Kine says. “He refers to this as ‘shock therapy’ for what he perceives as an emergency facing Indonesia.”</div><b></b><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><b>Diplomatic backlash or backlash to diplomacy?</b></b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Indonesia faced intense international criticism last year after it carried out 14 executions; <a href="http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/our-people/homs/pages/australian-ambassadors-and-other-representatives.aspx" target="_blank">ambassadors left Jakarta in protest</a> and Brazil <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/diplomatic-row-heightens-as-indonesia-recalls-ambassador-from-brazil-1424574371" target="_blank">refused the credentials</a> of an incoming Indonesian ambassador.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nithin Coca, a freelance writer and social activist, says only in the case of Mary Jane Veloso – the Filipino woman who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/28/mary-jane-veloso-indonesia-execution-reprieve" target="_blank">escaped</a> execution at the eleventh hour last year – did international lobbying efforts make a “discernable impact.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I don’t think the current administration cares that much what the international perception of their policies are,” says Coca, who shares his time between the U.S. and Indonesia. “I think [international lobbying] had a reverse impact, domestically at least.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amid criticism, “especially from <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/three-excuses-for-the-bali-nine-death-penalty--and-why-theyre-all-sickeningly-wrong-20150204-135yeh.html" target="_blank">Australia</a>,” Indonesians “became more nationalistic and more pro-death penalty than they would have had there been no international outcry,” he says.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Further, he suggests that Indonesians are “very cognizant of hypocrisy” – Indonesians are executed in other countries with worse capital punishment records each year, but “the world doesn’t care.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“There is this idea, because they are westerners [facing execution], now all of a sudden you care. But if it is an Indonesian or someone else from a developing country, you don’t really care.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kine says although there is a perception that international pressure doesn’t work, the criticism last year has “stung the Indonesian government.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The biggest blowback, and the greatest pressure that the Jokowi administration has had, has been from close bilateral partners whose citizens have been executed despite strenuous diplomatic efforts to commute those death sentences,” he says.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“After the peak of that pressure in March-April, 2015, when that last spree of executions occurred, the government paused and went silent on this death penalty issue. It has only been in recent weeks where it has suddenly reemerged.”<br /><br /><b>Nationalism and the 'War on Drugs'</b><br /><br />Using the death penalty on foreign nationals involved in drug trafficking appears to be popular among the electorate and is being used by politicians riding a wave of patriotism across the archipelago.<br /><br />Coca says there has been renewed nationalism in Indonesia under the Jokowi administration. He points to Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia’s minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, who has been promoting an aggressive defense of Indonesia’s maritime territory.<br /><br />“She’s incredibly popular,” Coca says. “She’s probably the most popular politician in the country right now.”<br /><br />Pudjiastuti’s confrontational rhetoric, Coca says, is “more for PR and more for show” than a sign of effective policy. Capital punishment in the so-called ‘War on Drugs’ is used similarly to portray an “image of power.”<br /><br />“The executions are not going to help actually stop the drug problem; they are really a show of force to demonstrate the government is doing something,” he says. <br /><br />Polls and surveys show a large number of Indonesians favor the death penalty, Kine says.<br /><br />“You could debate why that is the case, but the fact is that reflex pursuit of some kind of ‘justice’ through the death penalty is not based on the facts, science and international law,” he says.<br /><br />Twelve of the 14 drug offenders last executed in Indonesia were foreigners. This February, Widodo said drug abuse “tops the list” of Indonesia’s major problems.<br /><br />Coca says the statement was “ridiculous,” considering the country has challenges across electricity and infrastructure, education and literacy, and the environment, among others.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://international.thenewslens.com/article/42953" target="_blank"><b>Click here to read the full article</b></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: The News Lens, Edward White, June 28, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Joko would order cops to shoot drug dealers if the law allowed</span></b></div><br />Indonesian President Joko Wid­odo has called on police to “smash” drug dealers, and said he would order them to “shoot them on sight if existing law allowed it”.<br /><br />In language reminiscent of the hard-line position taken by The Philippines’ president-elect, Rodrigo Duterte, Jokowi (as he is known) said: “If (shooting on sight) were allowed by the law then I would have ordered the ­National Police and the BNN chief to do so, but luckily it is not.<br /><br />“This extraordinary crime has affected not only adults, but also elementary school and kindergarten-aged children,” he said in comments reported by the Jakarta Globe yesterday to mark the UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.<br /><br />Indonesia drew international criticism last year when it exec­uted 14 death-row prisoners, most of them foreigners convicted of drug offences.<br /><br />Among those put to death were Australian Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran, despite strong protests from Canberra and supporters who said the two men had amply demonstrated their rehabilitation during their imprisonment.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEC5sS0mRO3tW2VR-dUXdkaStQGD_qzcJ_aLfXYDGipU5G89LZyGDhq5hj0KtrBQkBIEIrZQfp8B1Zv7V71b43zP4MgQ8tejgAvv5ZRXSj-Wn4mL3Bf0pYpSWelP44NZ04FM_zN1_Y0KY/s1600/Cilacap+Nusakambangan+Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Clock Ticks as Indonesian Execution Spree Looms" border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEC5sS0mRO3tW2VR-dUXdkaStQGD_qzcJ_aLfXYDGipU5G89LZyGDhq5hj0KtrBQkBIEIrZQfp8B1Zv7V71b43zP4MgQ8tejgAvv5ZRXSj-Wn4mL3Bf0pYpSWelP44NZ04FM_zN1_Y0KY/s400/Cilacap+Nusakambangan+Island.jpg" title="Clock Ticks as Indonesian Execution Spree Looms" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clock Ticks as Indonesian Execution Spree Looms</td></tr></tbody></table>Two foreign nationals, Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, and Filipino domestic worker Mary Jane ­Veloso, were spared at the 11th hour, however, following appeals from their governments.<br /><br />The Indonesian government has flagged its intention to execute a further 18 death-row drug convicts after the Islamic holiday of Idul Fitri on July 6, as well as a further 30 next year, and has already made provision for them in the budget.<br /><br />But Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan has vowed there will be no repeat of the “soap opera” surrounding last year’s executions of convicted drug traffickers, and there would be just three days’ ­notice given before the prisoners faced the firing squad.<br /><br />About 60 prisoners of a total 152 currently on death row in ­Indonesia have been convicted for drug offences. Among them are two British citizens, Cheltenham grandmother Lindsay Sandiford and Gareth Cashmore, 36.<br /><br />Jokowi has previously ­described the drug problem as a national emergency, citing statistics suggesting up to 5.1 million people of Indonesia’s total 250 million population (2 per cent) are chronic drug abusers.<br /><br />Mr Duterte, who takes office in The Philippines on June 30, vowed to kill all drug dealers and feed their bodies to the fish in ­Manila Bay during his election campaign and has since said he will allow police to shoot to kill drug dealers.<br /><br />Philippines’ National Police spokesman Wilben Mayor last week said that since Mr Duterte’s election victory on May 9, more than 40 drug suspects had been killed, compared with 39 deaths recorded in the four months preceding the election.<br /><br />Late last week Adelaide man Damian John Berg was arrested in Manila for allegedly selling ­ecstasy in a police “buy-bust” raid.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/joko-would-order-cops-to-shoot-drug-dealers-if-the-law-allowed/news-story/6395eb02ae8786204122f56cc3bce311" target="_blank">The Australian</a>, Amanda Hodge, June 28, 2016<br /><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div>

Australia Brazil Drug trafficking Indonesia Joko Widodo L. Sandiford Mary J. Veloso Philippines Rodrigo Duterte Serge Atlaoui Clock Ticks as Indonesian Execution Spree Looms

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo Hope and Hypocrisy: Despite fighting for the freedom of hundreds of its own citizens facing the death ...

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As Lindsay Sandiford turns 60, supporter claims there is hope for Redcar death row gran

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOaW5JUQsu30n5z7r-FvpIqqZz3PDX-OpkhAP4DgzyY9HfHM2pZrFWSoPInaH89qtEMg3B9-sJRwRplXaQRZOQwL4P7HpLwalV6l4SQoQyQaNdyDWrNGqW06cE7uUF7Samhgu0FAJtlc/s1600/British+grandmother+Lindsay+Sandiford+%2528centre%2529+on+Death+Row+in+Bali+for+smuggling+cocaine+has+set+up+a+knitting+venture+behind+bars+to+provide+desperately+needed+funds+for+a+final+appeal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="L. Sandiford (center) knitting with other inmate in a Kerobokan prison cell" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOaW5JUQsu30n5z7r-FvpIqqZz3PDX-OpkhAP4DgzyY9HfHM2pZrFWSoPInaH89qtEMg3B9-sJRwRplXaQRZOQwL4P7HpLwalV6l4SQoQyQaNdyDWrNGqW06cE7uUF7Samhgu0FAJtlc/s400/British+grandmother+Lindsay+Sandiford+%2528centre%2529+on+Death+Row+in+Bali+for+smuggling+cocaine+has+set+up+a+knitting+venture+behind+bars+to+provide+desperately+needed+funds+for+a+final+appeal.jpg" title="L. Sandiford (center) knitting with other inmate in a Kerobokan prison cell" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lindsay Sandiford (center) knitting with other inmates in a Kerobokan prison cell</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">As she marks what could be her final birthday, sources close to death row gran Lindsay Sandiford say she isn't about to be executed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The convicted Redcar drug mule will spend her 60th birthday today in the squalid Indonesian prison she's languished in since she was sentenced to death in 2012.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were fears that the birthday would be her last, with reports she may be among one of 16 people shot following the Muslim holiday of Eid.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However a supporter, who has flown to Bali to be with her on her birthday, has told the Gazette "Lindsay is not listed for execution."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Christie Buckingham of Bayside Church jetted in from Australia to spend time with her friend during what she said was a "very sensitive time" for the grandmother.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"At this stage she is concentrating on getting her appeal in place," she added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another senior source close to the case confirmed Sandiford is not scheduled to be 1 of the 16 prisoners executed in the latest round of executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"She is working on her appeal and still has legal avenues left which I expect her to use," said the source.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Certainly there is no indication that she will be executed in the very near future."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sandiford has been in Bali's notorious Kerobokan Prison since she admitted trying to smuggle cocaine worth 1.6m pounds on to the paradise island.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite her plight, it is understood she's shunned consular assistance since 2014.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Instead she has received backing from thousands of Facebook supporters as well as the church.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There had been hope she could be spared a trip to a beauty spot dubbed "death island", where the Government carry out executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indonesian authorities had halted executions for "economic reasons" [after they resumed in 2015], with 2 of the mum's Australian friends [Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan] killed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: "We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and have made repeated representations on the issue to the Indonesian government at the highest levels."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: gazettelive.co.uk, June 25, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Drug trafficking Indonesia L. Sandiford UK Women As Lindsay Sandiford turns 60, supporter claims there is hope for Redcar death row gran

Lindsay Sandiford (center) knitting with other inmates in a Kerobokan prison cell As she marks what could be her final birthday, sources clo...

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Indonesia planning mass executions after Ramadan

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWj-6GKRMlVvG8ZWQApuxeuMl_xEoGoyUjWjk4nSy5x2zak6JncMxkMtlu3KAVGiEMlh92MRRn0PHlZsmbQzAV5adEZiJlBYPkV8LFImApB6BZQJDQkzmRr33fToxX504GIzJqpvepYPM/s1600/Indonesian+police+personnel+getting+ready+ahead+of+the+execution+of+eight+death+row+inmates+in+April+2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Indonesia: Getting ready for a new wave of executions" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWj-6GKRMlVvG8ZWQApuxeuMl_xEoGoyUjWjk4nSy5x2zak6JncMxkMtlu3KAVGiEMlh92MRRn0PHlZsmbQzAV5adEZiJlBYPkV8LFImApB6BZQJDQkzmRr33fToxX504GIzJqpvepYPM/s400/Indonesian+police+personnel+getting+ready+ahead+of+the+execution+of+eight+death+row+inmates+in+April+2015.jpg" title="Indonesia: Getting ready for a new wave of executions" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indonesia: Getting ready for a new wave of executions</td></tr></tbody></table><i>Spokesman for attorney-general confirms that executions are set to resume after a hiatus</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indonesia plans to put 16 convicts to death after next month’s Muslim Eid holiday, an official said Tuesday, confirming executions were set to resume after a hiatus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The death row convicts will be executed “immediately after” the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Mohammad Rum, a spokesman for the attorney-general’s office, told AFP, but he did not give a precise date.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ramadan ends with the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which falls in Indonesia on 6 and 7 July.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rum did not say who would face the firing squad, but Indonesia has been waging a campaign against narcotics and in 2015 executed 14 drug convicts, mostly foreigners, sparking international outrage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There have been no executions since April last year, with Indonesia saying it was pausing capital punishment to focus on fixing its slowing economy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We could not do it earlier because the government was trying to improve our economy, but now we will take some action after Eid,” Rum said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rum said the convicts would likely be put to death by firing squad on the prison island of Nusakambangan, off Java, where executions are usually carried out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are scores of drug convicts on death row in Indonesia, among them foreigners including Frenchman Serge Atlaoui and Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, who were both pulled from the last round of executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford is on death row in Bali after she was caught smuggling a huge stash of cocaine into the resort island.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">President Joko Widodo declared a war on drugs when he took office in 2014, saying that the country was facing an emergency due to rising narcotics use and traffickers should be severely punished.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were two rounds of executions last year. The second round in April, which saw two Australians, a Brazilian and four Nigerians put to death, caused the most serious diplomatic backlash.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Following the executions of the Australian drug smugglers, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Canberra temporarily recalled its ambassador from Jakarta.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: Agence France-Presse, June 14, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">British pair may face firing squad during new 'wave' of executions in Indonesia</span></b></div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOaW5JUQsu30n5z7r-FvpIqqZz3PDX-OpkhAP4DgzyY9HfHM2pZrFWSoPInaH89qtEMg3B9-sJRwRplXaQRZOQwL4P7HpLwalV6l4SQoQyQaNdyDWrNGqW06cE7uUF7Samhgu0FAJtlc/s1600/British+grandmother+Lindsay+Sandiford+%2528centre%2529+on+Death+Row+in+Bali+for+smuggling+cocaine+has+set+up+a+knitting+venture+behind+bars+to+provide+desperately+needed+funds+for+a+final+appeal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lindsay Sandiford (center) and Kerobokan prison inmates" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOaW5JUQsu30n5z7r-FvpIqqZz3PDX-OpkhAP4DgzyY9HfHM2pZrFWSoPInaH89qtEMg3B9-sJRwRplXaQRZOQwL4P7HpLwalV6l4SQoQyQaNdyDWrNGqW06cE7uUF7Samhgu0FAJtlc/s400/British+grandmother+Lindsay+Sandiford+%2528centre%2529+on+Death+Row+in+Bali+for+smuggling+cocaine+has+set+up+a+knitting+venture+behind+bars+to+provide+desperately+needed+funds+for+a+final+appeal.jpg" title="Lindsay Sandiford (center) and Kerobokan prison inmates" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lindsay Sandiford (center) knitting with other Kerobokan prison inmates.</td></tr></tbody></table><i>A grandmother and a father may be among 16 executed after Ramadan ends</i><br /><br />Indonesia is to perform a wave of executions after the end of Ramadan, meaning two British people on death row may face the firing squad sooner than expected.<br /><br />The country’s government announced it plans to put 16 convicted prisoners to death after Eid holiday in early July, the first executions since the start of a hiatus in April last year.<br /><br />Lindsay Sandiford, a grandmother from Teeside convicted of trafficking cocaine with a street value of £1.6 million, was given the death penalty in August 2013 and remains on death row.<br /><br />Gareth Cashmore from Yorkshire was convicted for smuggling crystal meth in the country and has been in custody since September 2012.<br /><br />It is not yet clear whether Ms Sandiford or Mr Cashmore will be among the group of prisoners executed next month.<br /><br />Mohammad Rum, spokesman for the Indonesian attorney-general, told AFP the executions would take place soon but refused to specify who would face the firing squad or on what date.<br /><br />“We could not do it earlier because the government was trying to improve our economy, but now we will take some action after Eid,” he said.<br /><br />Executions were temporarily halted in the spring last year after the ‘Bali Nine’ drug-traffickers including two Australians were killed by firing squad in April, a case which caused international outrage and criticism of the Indonesian government.<br /><br />Indonesia claimed at the time the country’s economic troubles had forced the suspension of executions, although many argued the true motivation was political.<br /><br />Twelve foreigners were executed in 2015 in total, all on drugs charges.<br /><br />Ms Sandiford, 59, has repeatedly insisted she was manipulated and used as a mule to transport the cocaine as a means to protect her sons, aged 22 and 24.<br /><br />She launched an appeal to have her sentence reduced but it was rejected, as the majority of appeals for drug offences are.<br /><br />Despite the attempted intervention of prime minister David Cameron during a visit to Jakarta in 2014, Ms Sandiford’s position remains unchanged.<br /><br />Prosecutors said Mr Cashmore was attempting to transport crystal meth worth up to £800,000 when he was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. <br /><br />Rum confirmed the executions would take place on the island of Nusakambangan near Java, where they are typically carried out.<br /><br />Indonesian president Joko Widodo says the policy of executing drug smugglers is "necessary" because of the mounting problem with substance abuse in the country.<br /><br />The Independent has contacted the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for comment.<br /><br />Source: The Independent, June 14, 2016<br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Indonesia to execute 16 inmates after Ramadan</span></b><br /><br />16 people are set to face a firing squad in Indonesia this year, with the Attorney General saying they have the budget to execute another 30 in 2017.<br /><br />Attorney General Office Spokesman Muhammad Rum has told AAP the exact timing of the executions will be decided after Indonesia's Eid al-Fitr July national holiday, Lebaran (Ramadan).Mr Rum says drug offenders will be a 'priority' but this still needs to be confirmed.<br /><br />He says the most likely site for the executions is Nusakambangan - the notorious island prison where Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were shot by firing squads in April last year. Under the state budget a further 30 people are scheduled to face the death penalty next year, Mr Rum said.<br /><br />But, Mr Rum said, the location also still needs to be confirmed.<br /><br />'One thing for sure, it's after Lebaran, 16 people. That's all,' he added.Speaking after a hearing into the budget in parliament on Monday, Attorney General HM Prasetyo told Metro TV: 'We will not stop the execution ... The budget is ready'.<br /><br />'We still have 58 death convicts of drugs cases and 152 for all kinds of crimes - murder and there's also terrorism. All we will (execute).'<br /><br />Security Minister Luhut Panjaitan has previously said he did not want to see a repeat of the 'drama' or 'soap opera' such as that which occurred in the lead up to the Australians' executions, where Indonesia faced intense diplomatic pressure, as well as strident international appeals and pleas from family members.<br /><br />Indonesian law stipulates authorities only need to give 3 days' notice of an execution taking place.<br /><br />Speaking during the anniversary of Chan and Sukumaran's death this year, their Indonesian lawyer and long time anti-death penalty campaigner Dr Todung Mulya Lubis said while he could not see the abolition of the death penalty in the country happening 'any time soon', he hopes a bill tabled before parliament might provide a middle way.<br /><br />Under the proposed changes, if people show they have rehabilitated themselves, they could see their execution commuted to a life sentence.<br /><br />Source: Sky News, June 14, 2016<br /><br /><br /><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">21 Nigerians are among the 121 prisoners on death row in Indonesia.</span></b><br /><br />30 of the prisoners will be executed before the end of 2017. 18 of them will be executed after July 6, the Eid el-Fitr Muslim holiday, which ends the holy month of Ramadan.<br /><br />Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora to President Muhammadu Buhari, disclosed this to Independent on Monday.<br /><br />Bambang Waluyo, Indonesian Deputy Attorney General, announced the execution schedule during a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta. The Justice Ministry said those on death row in Indonesia are mostly convicted of drug-related crimes and that at least 35 of them are foreigners.<br /><br />In 2015, Indonesia had equally executed 14 convicts, all but 2 of them foreigners, in a move that drew international condemnation. Dabiri-Erewa noted that one Nigerian was executed in the last batch of execution. Under Indonesian law, each convict would face a squad of 10 gunmen.<br /><br />Dabiri-Erewa, who was chairman, House of Representatives' Committee on Diaspora before her present appointment, noted that when a Nigerian delegation visited Indonesia in 2010 to plead for Nigerians on death row, that the Indonesian government made it clear that the death penalty is the law.<br /><br />"As the world keeps appealing to Indonesia not to kill them, we must also admonish our citizens to avoid crime and be good ambassadors wherever they find themselves", she said.<br /><br />Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014, has taken a tough stance against drug trafficking, saying that the country is facing a drug emergency.<br /><br />Source: nigeriatoday.ng, June 14, 2016<br /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Death-Penalty-News-206848499362906/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

David Cameron Drug trafficking Indonesia Joko Widodo L. Sandiford Mary J. Veloso Nigeria Ramadan Serge Atlaoui UK Indonesia planning mass executions after Ramadan

Indonesia: Getting ready for a new wave of executions Spokesman for attorney-general confirms that executions are set to resume after a hiat...

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Indonesia Plans to Execute 18 Drug Convicts This Year, 30 in 2017

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRxhnm0aHqP9tetCBEjzOLhnGPzX0X2cL1ONd7z34gisRxa0Olj278pg5D9zg9CkLNajoR7EueGlaHrzCwc2XA1IhdUHNmuMbhL2kp7JlJV5ZSnH-z5p_LiHaVr85rK63eglaSCcJlhY/s1600/Indonesia+bullet-ridden+flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRxhnm0aHqP9tetCBEjzOLhnGPzX0X2cL1ONd7z34gisRxa0Olj278pg5D9zg9CkLNajoR7EueGlaHrzCwc2XA1IhdUHNmuMbhL2kp7JlJV5ZSnH-z5p_LiHaVr85rK63eglaSCcJlhY/s320/Indonesia+bullet-ridden+flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Indonesian government plans to execute 30 death row convicts in 2017, a deputy attorney general says.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The number of convicts to be executed is expected to be 30" next year, Deputy Attorney General Bambang Waluyo told lawmakers during a parliamentary hearing on Monday, Tribun News reported.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This year, his office is preparing to execute 18 convicts after the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday that ends the holy month of Ramadan, expected to fall on July 6, Bambang reportedly said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A spokesman for the attorney general's office could not be reached by phone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least 121 people are on death row in Indonesia, including 35 foreigners, mostly convicted of drug-related crimes, according to the Justice Ministry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They include Mary Jane Veloso from the Philippines, Lindsay Sandiford from Britain and Frenchman Serge Atlaoui.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last year Indonesia executed 14 convicts, all but two of them foreigners, in a move that drew international condemnation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Australian duo Myuran Sukumaran and fellow convicted drug smuggler Andrew Chan were among those executed by firing squad on Indonesia's Nusakambangan island on April 29, 2015.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Under Indonesian law, each convict would face a squad of 10 gunmen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014, has taken a tough stance against drug trafficking, saying that the country is facing a drug emergency.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="http://www.themercury.com.au/news/breaking-news/indonesia-plans-30-executions-in-2017/news-story/cefcec2f011e76ca28cda5355e350f3e" target="_blank">The Mercury</a>, June 13, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Indonesia Plans to Execute 18 Drug Convicts This Year, 30 in 2017</span></b></div><br />Jakarta. The Indonesian government plans to execute 18 drug convicts this year, and 30 more in 2017, Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo said on Monday (13/06).<br /><br />The third round of executions will take place on the notorious Nusakambangan Island in Cilacap, Central Java, after the Idul Fitri holidays early next month, Prasetyo said during a meeting with House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs.<br /><br />"I hope there will be no changes. We have planned it to take place after the fasting month at Nusakambangan. Some convicts [on death row] have been moved there," Prasetyo said, as quoted by Detik.com.<br /><br />The number of prisoners in this round of executions is still being decided, he said, as authorities weigh up the Nusakambangan facility and its capacity.<br /><br />Prasetyo said the government would execute 30 more drug convicts in 2017 as it ramps up its war against drugs.<br /><br />"The budget has been allocated for the death penalty. We still have 58 drug convicts on the death row list, and another 152 death row inmates for crimes such as murder, terrorism and others," the attorney general said.<br /><br />Indonesia executed 14 convicts by firing squad last year, including citizens of Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands and Nigeria, despite repeated pleas for mercy from foreign governments and international organizations and activists.<br /><br />Australia temporarily recalled its ambassador to Indonesia after the executions of two of the infamous "Bali Nine" drug smugglers, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. The relationship has since been restored.<br /><br />Source: Jakarta Globe, June 13, 2016<br /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Death-Penalty-News-206848499362906/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Bali 9 Drug trafficking Indonesia Joko Widodo L. Sandiford Mary J. Veloso Ramadan Serge Atlaoui Indonesia Plans to Execute 18 Drug Convicts This Year, 30 in 2017

The Indonesian government plans to execute 30 death row convicts in 2017, a deputy attorney general says. "The number of convicts to be...

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