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Death row prisoners in limbo in Indonesia after unexplained stay of execution
Sydney Morning Herald - October 4, 2016
Garment trader Zulfiqar Ali was among 14 convicted drug offenders slated to be executed on April 29 as part of Indonesia's so-called "war on drugs". But 10 prisoners, including Mr Ali, were given a last-minute stay of execution for reasons never explained by the Indonesian government.
"I am in darkness until now," Mr Ali told Fairfax Media via his lawyer. "I am suffering for a long time and still this is a time of suffering for me."
Mr Ali was arrested on drug trafficking charges in 2004 after an Indian acquaintance, Gurdip Singh, named him as the owner of 300 grams of heroin. An internal probe into Mr Ali's case, ordered by the Indonesian government, found he was a victim of conspiracy and likely to be innocent.
The investigation by then director-general of human rights Hafid Abbas, which found evidence of human rights violations and abuse of power at all levels, was ignored by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"I have sent a very strong letter to President Jokowi three days ago and strongly advised the president to immediately provide clemency to Zulfiqar Ali," Dr Hafid, who is now a commissioner with the National Commission for Human Rights told Fairfax Media.
However a spokesman for the Attorney-General, Muhammad Rum, said the executions would still be carried out. "The plan is still on, it was only postponed," he told Fairfax Media. "We haven't decided on the time."
Since his death was mysteriously postponed, Mr Ali, who has cirrhosis, has been ferried between hospital and a jail on Nusakambangan, the island where Indonesia carries out its executions.
He and another of the condemned prisoners, Indonesian Merri Utami, have repeatedly asked to be transferred back to the jails where they were incarcerated prior to July's executions.
Ms Utami, whom supporters say was a victim of human trafficking, has been kept in an isolation cell at a jail in Cilacap, the closest town to Nusakambangan. "She is in isolation 24/7 except for two hours of church time each week," her lawyer, Afif Abdul Oyim told Fairfax Media.
"Her daughter spoke to her and told us her health has been impacted by the isolation. Emotionally, she is still traumatised by the execution day. Sometimes she will hear her cell doors opening, like the one she heard during execution night. She has no activities all day in isolation. It adds to the stress."
But Mr Rum said the nine male prisoners would remain on Nusakambangan and Ms Utami would stay at the women's jail in Cilacap. "They are already there, so they stay there," he said.
Mr Ali's wife, Siti Rohani, is worried this means her husband will be taken away from her again soon. "We are hearing there is going to be another round of executions by the end of the year," she said.
Mr Ali said he was forced to confess to the heroin after being tortured by police: "They beat me like an animal. They showed me we will shoot you with a gun. Many things they did to me. They didn't allow me to talk to my embassy and talk to my lawyer."
He was sentenced to death in June 2005 even though the prosecution had only demanded life imprisonment. Dr Hafid said the sentencing was shortly after the arrest of the Bali nine on drug smuggling charges. "There was emotion in Indonesian society at that time that narcotics cases should be punished much more."
He said he had provided four main reasons why Indonesian president Joko Widodo should grant clemency. These included that Gurdip Singh had recanted his allegations of Mr Ali's involvement, Mr Ali had been in hospital the day the prosecution alleged he had bought the heroin, prosecutors had only requested a jail sentence and another accomplice had received a much lighter sentence.
Former president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie also wrote to Mr Joko asking that he save Mr Ali's life.
But the couple have been told nothing officially of Mr Ali's fate since the night of the July 29 executions when he was asked what he wanted done with his remains.
"They asked me in front of my wife, in front of my children, where do you want to be buried?," Mr Ali said. "[They said] better you are buried in Indonesia. [They] do not want to allow me to go back to Pakistan."
Ms Siti wept as her husband recounted telling his family "it was better to let him go" in the lead up to the executions. "I am tired because of this system, these people, this everything," he told her. "Better ok, if you want to kill me, shoot me, finish this problem."
On July 29, executioners took from his cell "one black guy in front of me", a Nigerian, who was later shot. Mr Ali, waiting in his isolation cell on Nusakambangan, told himself "This is my number, this is my number". But the executioners never came back for him.
"Around 1am I got a text from the prison governor saying 'Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God) Bapak (Mr Ali) is safe," Ms Siti said. "But we couldn't be sure about it because the prosecutors didn't say anything, they were there... but they just stayed silent."
Mr Ali said he had many opportunities to escape during his numerous stints in hospital but chose not to do so. "Why am I still here? Because I am not guilty. If they want to do something to me, they will be wrong, not me. Still I have hope of God Almighty, who can do anything. Inshallah."
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