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After escaping death, convicts fight for clemency

Jakarta Post - August 3, 2016

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Margareth S. Aritonang and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The death row inmates whose lives were spared on the night of their planned executions last week are struggling and waiting for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to decide whether he will grant them clemency, a disputed legal instrument that failed to save other inmates.

This includes Pakistani Zulfiqar Ali, who eventually caved in to requesting clemency after previously insisting on being innocent: "A bitter decision" as his lawyer Saut Edward Rajagukguk described, but necessary to save his life.

On early Friday, the government executed four drug traffickers while sparing the lives of another 10 on the initial list, arguing hazy legal and non-legal grounds for the decision.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO), for instance, executed three inmates – Indonesian Freddy Budiman, Nigerians Seck Osmane and Humphrey Jefferson – who had filed for clemency, while sparing another three from the list – Indonesians Merri Utami, Agus Hadi and Pujo Lestari, who had done the same.

The decision has drawn criticism, with accusations that the AGO carried out the executions without the knowledge of the President, who is supposed to give the results of clemency proposals before convicts can be executed.

Saut said the AGO must not proceed with more executions until Jokowi answered convicts' clemency pleas. "Attorney General [Muhammad Prasetyo] should be ready for legal challenges by many people if he insists on carry on with the plan," Saut told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. "I will definitely file a lawsuit against him if he ignores my client's appeal for clemency."

Ricky Gunawan from the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat), the lawyer of Merri, said that Merri filed for clemency on July 26, while Agus and Pujo on July 27.

Indian Gurdip Singh, another convict spared from Friday's executions, also plans to file for clemency. Gurdip's lawyer, Afdal Muhammad, said that he too would soon file a clemency plea on behalf of his client. "We will do so immediately," Afdal said.

Arguing on a provision in the Clemency Law that had been scrapped, the AGO said Jefferson's clemency request was considered invalid.

The law initially limited appeals to be lodged within a year after a final verdict was handed down, but the article mandating the limit was revoked by the Constitutional Court in June.

If it is proven that the AGO ignored the court ruling, the executions of the three with clemency pleas still being processed can be considered illegal, said former Constitutional Court justice Laica Marzuki. "As stipulated in the Constitution, the Constitutional Court's rulings are final," Laica said.

The concern that the AGO may have ignored the Constitution was also raised by constitutional law expert Feri Amsari, who said that "regardless of the absence of forceful measures, all should respect Constitutional Court rulings".

While the law gives the President three months to decide on whether to grant clemency after he receives input from the Supreme Court, convicts can also turn to the Prosecutors Commission, a body tasked with keeping an eye on the AGO, for justice should they suspect the AGO of foul play.

"We also monitor and evaluate public cases," Erna Ratnaningsih of the Prosecutors Commission said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/08/03/after-escaping-death-convicts-fight-clemency.html.