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Indonesia carries out midnight executions
Sydney Morning Herald - July 29, 2016
Three Nigerians – Humphrey Jefferson Ejike Eleweke, Seck Osmane and Michael Titus Igweh and Indonesian Freddy Budiman – were killed by firing squad at 12.45am in the middle of torrential downpours. It is not clear why the execution of the other ten prisoners did not proceed.
"Of course there are considerations for it," was all Deputy Attorney General for Crimes, Noor Rachmad would say. He said those who had been executed had filed for judicial reviews twice and both were rejected.
Human rights groups and lawyers had fought to persuade President Joko Widodo to postpone the executions, claiming there was evidence of torture, corruption, bribery and miscarriages of justice.
In the hours before the executions it emerged former Indonesian president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie had appealed to President Joko Widodo to save the life of Pakistani textile worker Zulfiqar Ali, saying evidence pointed to his innocence. Mr Habibie also called for a moratorium on the death penalty.
Mr Ali's lawyer, Saut Edward Rajaguguk, said that prosecutors did not give him reasons for the postponement. "Thank God, my client can still breathe," he said.
Mr Ali's wife, Siti Rouhani, who had almost collapsed when she was informed of her husband's execution on Thursday morning, said she was very grateful for the last minute reprieve. "Thank God the Indonesian Government still listens to our voices,'" she said.
"We don't know what will happen next because I was not allowed to meet with my husband. I hope he will be fine because I took all his clothes including his oxygen tank."
Amnesty International said some of the cases were emblematic of systemic flaws within the Indonesian justice system.
The lead up to the executions – on the penal island of Nusakambangan known as Indonesia's Alcatraz – provoked noticeably less international outrage and media coverage than those last year, which included Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.
The condemned all came from countries that also impose the death penalty which insiders admitted gave them less leverage in fighting for their citizens' lives.
However Pakistan battled to save Mr Ali, who was never found with drugs in his possession and was allegedly framed by Indian national Gurdip Singh.
Mr Ali, who says he was tortured when he was arrested in 2004 resulting in long-term health problems, was moved from hospital days before the execution. He was in a wheelchair and needed to wear an oxygen mask the day of the executions according to a friend who visited him on Thursday.
After families farewelled their love ones for the last time on Thursday, the condemned spent their final hours with spiritual counsellors before being tied to a stake and killed by firing squad. All 14 had been moved into isolation cells ahead of the executions.
A vigil was held outside the presidential palace on Thursday night to protest against the executions, although most Indonesians support the death penalty for drug offences according to opinion polls.
The government insists they are a necessary deterrent in the war against drugs, with officials regularly citing statistics that 40 to 50 people die from drug-related causes a day.
"It is an action to stop the rapid spread of drug in Indonesia – today Indonesia has become the main destination in the Asian market," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir.
However the number of drug use cases actually increased after last year's executions – up 4.2 million in June 2015 to 5.9 million in November 2015.
At a speech on July 22, Reprieve Australia president Julian McMahon, who represented Chan and Sukumaran, said the logic of executions was to appear tough and merciless for political gain.
He said Indonesia had saved 285 of its own citizens on death row overseas in the last five years, including drug offenders.
Eight of the prisoners slated for execution on Thursday were from Nigeria – Michael Titus Igweh, Frederick Luttar, Eugene Ape, Seck Osmane, Okonkwo Nonso Kingsley, Ozias Sibanda, Obina Nwajagu and Humphrey Jefferson Ejike Eleweke.
Four of these had been arrested on a fake passport, causing confusion in Indonesia as to their true nationality.
The four Indonesians originally slated for executions were former migrant worker Merri Utami, drug kingpin Freddy Budiman, Agus Hadi and Pujo Lestari.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein said he found it "deeply disturbing" that Indonesia was the most prolific executioner in South-East Asia. "Indonesia recently revealed it had budgeted for another 30 people to be executed next year.
Amnesty International said the executions by the Indonesian authorities was a deplorable act that violated international and Indonesian law.
"Any executions that are still to take place must be halted immediately. The injustice already done cannot be reversed, but there is still hope that it won't be compounded," said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International's Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.
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