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Pasir Putih Prison, on Nusakambangan Island,
Central Java, Indonesia, where the 3 Bali bombers
were executed by firing squad on Nov. 9, 2008. |
Capital Controversy: The attorney general and president's tough stance on the death penalty has been heavily criticized
The execution of 5 death-row inmates is likely to be conducted this week, an official revealed on Monday, as activists and academics continue to condemn the plan.
The Attorney General's Office, which is tasked with carrying out the execution, has yet to reveal the identity of the inmates, saying only that they are now incarcerated in different prisons across Indonesia.
But AGO spokesman Tony Spontana said "it is almost certain" that there will only be 1 venue for the execution of the 5, Nusa Kambangan, an island prison located less than a kilometer off the port town of Cilacap on the southern coast of Java.
The execution will be carried out by a 10-member firing squad from the Central Java Police's Mobile Brigade Unit (Brimob) and the inmates could be executed within this week, Tony said.
On Monday, "the Attorney General [HM Prasetyo] is scheduled to receive reports from provincial prosecutors' office chiefs ... whose offices host inmates on death row," the spokesman said.
"The reports will include one from the Central Java Prosecutors' Office chief. This prosecutors' office actually don't have any inmates scheduled for execution [this week] but [will submit a report] because the executions will be conducted in Cilacap," Tony added.
He said the attorney general is planning to conduct a visit to Nusa Kambangan to inspect preparations for the execution over the next few days.
It is unclear when the 5 inmates are scheduled to arrive at the maximum security island prison.
The law says inmates must be informed of their execution 72 hours before it is carried out.
Plans for the execution was revealed earlier this month after President Joko Widodo denied their petitions for clemency.
Joko, according to the AGO, has pledged to refuse clemencies to drug offenders on death row, saying that the government will act tough on drug-related offenses.
According to the AGO, there are 136 inmates currently on death row, with 64 of them sentenced for drug trafficking, 2 for terrorism and the rest for murder and robberies with aggravated assault.
Starting next year, the AGO said it will execute at least 10 death-row prisoners in a bid to reduce the backlog.
Capital punishment is a sentencing option for Indonesian judges on several convictions, including drug trafficking, murder, sedition and terrorism.
Indonesia resumed executing prisoners last year, under the administration of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Joko's decision to continue the legacy has sparked wide condemnations from local and international nongovernmental organizations, which have long pushed the country to end capital punishment.
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said on Sunday that it will report the Indonesian government to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights over the plan.
He added that the executions violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2005.
The agreement limits the sentence of death for "only for the most serious crimes, in accordance with the law in effect at the time of the commission of the crime."
Senior lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis noted that by resuming the execution of prisoners, Indonesia will undermine its own attempts to save the hundreds of Indonesian migrant workers on death row abroad, saying that it was likely to "create a contradiction."
3 of the 5 inmates that will be executed this month were involved in drug cases, while the remaining 2 will be killed because they committed 1st-degree murder.
All 5 are male.
"We agree that [illicit] drugs must be eradicated and that traffickers are severely punished. But it doesn't have to be with the death penalty. Life in prison or life without parole are also severe punishments," Todung said on Monday.
Source: Jakarta Globe, December 17, 2014
