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12/28/2024 06:18:01 am

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Indonesia Executions A Done Deal

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran

(Photo : Reuters) Australian death row prisoners Andrew Chan (C) and Myuran Sukumaran (L) are seen in a holding cell waiting to attend a review hearing in the District Court of Denpasar on the Indonesian island of Bali, in this October 8, 2010 picture taken by Antara Foto. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Indonesia on February 13, 2015 not to execute prisoners on death row for drug crimes, including citizens of Australia, Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines.
Picture taken October 8, 2010. REUTERS/Nyoman Budhiana/Antara Foto (INDONESIA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW)

The nine foreigners convicted of drug smuggling in Indonesia are resigned by now to their fate that they will soon be executed. Speculations place the time of execution at midnight of Tuesday or early Wednesday morning.

Following the refusal of the Indonesian government to be pressured by international bodies and foreign governments to commute the executions to death sentences, all is set for the firing squad.

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The Attorney General's office confirmed it in a statement, saying, "All the officials, prosecutors, firing squads and ambulances are in place, so hopefully the time (of the executions) is getting closer. So at the moment, we're entering the quiet period before the executions, which will be carried out soon," quotes the Independent.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the two Australians, have accepted they are now living on borrowed hours. Chan married his girlfriend, while Sukumaran said he would refuse a blindfold for two reasons. First, is to look the firing squad members in the eye, and second is so his mother would not think he is a "weeping mess" in his final moments.

In the case of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina domestic helper, Asia Institute Senior Research Fellow Dr. David McRae notes that she has gained noticeable sympathy among Indonesians and has attracted several key public figures to speak against the death penalty when they normally would not on cases of convicted drug smugglers.

But while he sees Indonesian sympathy for the mother of two as the only ray of hope for Veloso's execution to be stayed, no less than Indonesian President Joko Widodo has rejected the personal appeal of Philippine President Benigno Aquino.

McRae points out that, so far, no country has succeeded in stopping the execution of its national in Indonesia. In January, Brazil even recalled its ambassador to Jakarta and refused to accept the credentials of the new Indonesian envoy to Sao Paulo.

Ironically, in the case of Chan and Sukumaran, the Australian federal police took part in the arrest of the two convicted drug smugglers who were caught with $400,000 worth of illegal drugs.

McRae's advice to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who also personally wrote Widodo to stay the execution, is that "it would be appropriate that one of the responses that the Australian government pursued if the execution happens is to make future law enforcement cooperation contingent on the death penalty not being applied," quotes News.com.au.

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