[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 29



INDONESIA:

60 more drug convicts to face firing squad



The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has revealed that 60 more death row 
convicts were waiting their turn for execution.

"Around 60 people sentenced to death for drug trafficking are waiting their 
turn to be executed," kompas.com quoted BNN head Anang Iskandar as saying at a 
press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

8 death row inmates, mostly foreigners, were put to death by a firing squad on 
Nusakambangan Island, off Cilacap, Central Java, on Wednesday, while 2 more - 
Frenchman Serge Atlaoui and Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso - were expected to 
face the firing squad as soon as possible. Anang, accompanied by Communications 
and Information Minister Rudiantara, said the government should remain 
consistent in enforcing the death penalty to send a good message to others as 
well as to reduce to a minimum the rampant trafficking of drugs within and into 
the country.

The death sentence imposed on drug dealers and traffickers is regulated in Law 
No. 35/2009 on narcotics.

(source: Jakarta Post)

***********************

Indonesia's bloodthirsty desire for crime and punishment



The brutal executions in Indonesia mark a fresh horror in a country notable for 
its bizarre and bloody history of capital punishment.

It was the culmination of an inhumane 10-year ordeal for Myuran Sukumaran and 
Andrew Chan and their families, the death sentence doled out despite desperate 
pleas from across the world.

Indonesia's authorities turned the 8 deaths into a humiliating spectacle, 
forcing the condemned Australians to pose for selfies with guards on their 
flight from Denpasar to the island where they were to die.

Their families were prevented from seeing them as they were bundled in 
handcuffs out of Kerobakan Prison into an armoured vehicle, as 100 armed police 
lined up outside the prison in a sickening display of toughness that Tony 
Abbott called "macabre" and "undignified".

Execution rates in the nation have been characterised by unpredictable stops 
and starts, often based on campaigning presidents looking to denounce 
particular crimes.

President Joko Widodo's crackdown on drugs since his election in October has 
left him blind to the duo's rehabilitation and remorse, and deaf to the pleas 
and condemnation of the international community.

The death penalty appeared on Indonesian statutes when the republic was formed 
in 1949, but only 3 executions took place under Indonesia's1st President 
Sukarno, for an attempt to assassinate him in the late 1950s, according to 
Daniel Pascoe from City University of Hong Kong. Executions remained rare until 
the trials of 22 alleged Indonesian Communist Party conspirators in the late 
1960s and early 1970s under 2nd president, Suharto.

During Suharto's 31-year rule, a further 9 people were executed for murder and 
6 for Islamic terrorism, according to Indonesian NGO Kontras.

That changed in 1975, when Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia introduced the 
death penalty for serious drug offences, in a bid to halt the flow of narcotics 
through Asia from the Golden Triangle. During the "reform area" that followed 
the president's resignation in 1998, 60 % of executions were for drug-related 
crimes.

In August 2004, President Megawati Sukarnoputri ordered the 1st capital 
punishment in the country for 3 years. Indian Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey, 67, was 
executed by firing squad on the island of Sumatra for drug smuggling, just 
weeks before a close-run election, which Sukarnoputri lost to President Susilo 
Bambang Yudhoyono.

The next spike in executions came in 2008, when 10 people were killed 
(murderers, drug traffickers, and 3 "Bali bombers") as President Yudhoyono 
faced pressure to prove he was tough on crime ahead of 2009's presidential 
election.

By May 2014, just 5 of the 70 terrorists convicted for their involvement in the 
Bali bombings remained in jail, with most walking free, making a nonsense of 
the nation's inconsistent enforcement of capital punishment.

Humanitarian agencies started to hope the death penalty was all but abolished 
when no one was put to death in Indonesia for 4 years from 2009 and 2012, 
although more than 100 remained on death row and the country continued to issue 
the death sentence in court.

But in March 2013, Indonesia ended the moratorium by executing Malawi drug 
trafficker Adami Wilson, followed by 3 murder convicts at Nusa Kambangan prison 
that May and a Palestinian drug smuggler in November.

Yet the country has defended its citizens against the death penalty overseas. 
Indonesian maid Ruyati binti Sapubi was executed by beheading in Saudi Arabia 
in 2011, after she was convicted of murdering an employer she said had kept her 
enslaved. It sparked a wave of sympathy in Indonesia and President Yudhoyono 
announced a moratorium on Indonesian citizens heading to the Gulf kingdom for 
work.

Between 2012 and 2015, the Sunday Telegraph reportedthat 189 Indonesian 
prisoners in countries including Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Singapore 
had their death sentences commuted, after being convicted of crimes including 
drug smuggling.

"Of course I'm going to try to save my citizens from execution," said Widodo 
last month. "That's my obligation as a president, as a head of state ... To 
protect my citizens who are facing the death penalty but on the other hand we 
have to respect other countries that apply capital punishment. The constitution 
and the existing law still allows the death penalty. But, if the Indonesian 
people want to change it in the future, then it's possible, why not?"

The nation's citizens may be its best hope. Divided factions have protested for 
and against the executions of Chan and Sukumaran in recent times. In September 
2006, thousands protested after 3 Christian militants were executed on 
Sulawesi. The extremists had masterminded a series of attacks on the island's 
Muslims, killing at least 70.

Since 1975, far more prisoners have been sentenced to death than executed, as a 
result of judicial appeals, case reviews and grants of presidential clemency. 
Those executed this year are victims of Widodo's dogged refusal to grant 
clemency to at least 64 people sentenced to death for drug-related crimes.

The president declared his intention in December, 2 months after his election, 
citing the industry's devastating impact on the country's young people. In 
January, his vicious crackdown was realised as 5 foreign nationals and 1 
Indonesian were executed by firing squad, and this morning, 8 more followed, 
despite international pleas for mercy and Sukumaran and Chan's 10 years of 
rehabilitation.

At least 130 people remain on death row in Indonesia and the government has 
announced plans for further executions this year. Elsewhere, we await an end to 
its use of human life as political capital.

(source: news.com.au)

******************

"Reprehensible" executions show complete disregard for human rights safeguards



The execution of eight people in Indonesia today shows complete disregard for 
due process and human rights safeguards, Amnesty International said. The 
organization also called for any plans to carry out further executions to be 
scrapped.

8 people, including Indonesian and foreign nationals, were today put to death 
by firing squad on Nusakambangan Island, off Java. All of them had been 
convicted of drug trafficking. The execution of a Filipina national, Mary Jane 
Fiesta Veloso, was halted at the last minute by President Widodo

"These executions are utterly reprehensible - they were carried out with 
complete disregard for internationally recognized safeguards on the use of the 
death penalty," said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International's Research Director 
for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

"President Joko Widodo should immediately abandon plans to carry out further 
executions and impose a moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards 
abolition."

There were at least 2 ongoing legal appeals from the death row prisoners which 
had been accepted by the courts. The clemency petitions of all 8 prisoners had 
been summarily considered and rejected, undermining their right to appeal for 
pardon or commutation of their sentence as provided for under international 
law.

14 people have now been put to death in Indonesia in 2015, and the government 
has announced plans for further executions this year.

"The death penalty is always a human rights violation, but there are a number 
of factors that make today's executions even more distressing. Some of the 
prisoners were reportedly not provided access to competent lawyers or 
interpreters during their arrest and initial trial, in violation of their right 
to a fair trial which is recognized under international and national law," said 
Rupert Abbott.

"One of those executed today, Rodrigo Gularte, had been diagnosed with paranoid 
schizophrenia, and international law clearly prohibits the use of the death 
penalty against those with mental disabilities. It's also troubling that people 
convicted of drug trafficking have been executed, even though this does not 
meet the threshold of 'most serious crimes' for which the death penalty can be 
imposed under international law."

Background

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any 
circumstances, regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of 
the offender, or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The 
death penalty violates the right to life as recognized in the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment. The protection of the right to life is also recognized in 
Indonesia???s Constitution. So far, 140 countries have abolished the death 
penalty in law or practice.

There is no compelling evidence that the death penalty prevents crime more 
effectively than other punishments. A comprehensive study carried out by the 
United Nations on the relationship between the death penalty and homicide rates 
concluded that research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions 
have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment.

The 8 individuals executed today are Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran (both 
Australian, males), Raheem Agbaje Salami (Nigerian, male. Also known as Jamiu 
Owolabi Abashin), Zainal Abidin (Indonesian, male), Martin Anderson alias Belo 
(Ghanaian, male), Rodrigo Gularte (Brazilian, male), Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise 
(Nigerian, male) and Okwudili Oyatanze (Nigerian, male).

(source: Amnesty International USA)

***************************

Death row inmates refused blindfolds so they could look their killers in the 
eyes



All 8 men shot by an Indonesian firing squad refused to wear blindfolds so they 
could stare down their 12 executioners and were singing with their final 
breaths.

Pastor Karina de Vega said some prisoners sung for one another, their voices 
carrying through the night air before being silenced.

"They were praising their God," Pastor de Vega told Fairfax Media.

The families of Bali 9 pair have released a statement following the executions.

"It was breathtaking. This was the first time I witnessed someone so excited to 
meet their God."

One sung Amazing Grace in an experience Pastor Vega described as the most 
beautiful moment she ever experienced.

"They bonded together," she said.

"Brotherhood. They sang one song after another. Praising God. They sang a few 
songs together, like in a choir. The non-Christian I believe also sang from his 
heart. It was such an experience."

The condemned men died from shots to the heart, meaning it was not necessary 
for the firing squad commander to shoot any in the head which is the protocol 
if a prisoner does not die after 10 minutes.

"Everyone was looking forward, it seems everyone accepted their fate," said 
Father Charles Burrows, who aided Brazilian man Rodrigo Gularte with spiritual 
guidance in his final days.

The priest said the execution of Gularte was difficult to deal with because the 
42-year-old was mentally ill having been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a 
teenager.

"We didn't think it would happen. It is finished. It's all done," Father 
Burrows said.

Gularte was said to fear the electromagnetic waves of satellites he believed 
were watching him from above the island prison of Nusakambangan and he talked 
to animals.

He was convinced in his deluded state of mind that Indonesia had abolished the 
death penalty and he would be sent home to Brazil next year in a prisoner 
extradition agreement.

The Melbourne-based husband of Pastor Christie Buckingham, who is in Indonesia, 
said she sent him a text message following the executions saying the men 
conducted themselves with "dignity and strength until the end".

"She told me the 8 of them walked out onto the killing field singing songs of 
praise," Rob Buckingham told 3AW radio.

There were concerns Ms Buckingham wouldn't be allowed to see the men before 
their deaths, but a last-minute reprieve allowed her to read them their last 
rites, Mr Buckingham said.

Artist Ben Quilty, a close friend and mentor to Myuran Sukumaran, said on 
Tuesday night the Australian would stare his executioners in the eyes and face 
death with strength and dignity.

Among the prisoners was Nigerian gospel singer Okwudili Ayotanze who remained 
confident he would be taken off the execution list till the end while his 
appeal was pending at the Administrative Court.

Friends and others who came to know him while he was in prison over the past 
decade were hurt Ayotanze's case had been left so late, believing he might have 
been spared had the process started sooner.

One friend described him as the "Nigerian version of Andrew Chan", a man who 
redeemed himself by helping others and brought them from their cells to mass.

"He was a good person. I will really feel the loss," the friend said.

(source: 9news.com.au)

****************************

Legislator regrets UN Secretary General's statement on Indonesia's execution 
plan



Indonesian lawmaker TB Hasanuddin expressed regret over UN Secretary General 
Ban Ki-moons statement, which intervenes in the Indonesian governments plan to 
execute some foreign death row convicts mostly involved in drug-related crimes.

"The statement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which interferes in 
Indonesias execution plan, is very regrettable," he stated in a press release, 
here, Tuesday.

The death sentence is a positive punishment in line with the existing laws in 
Indonesia, so the UN secretary general should not intervene as it is not 
related to a conflict between the 2 countries, he noted.

Several countries including Malaysia and even the United States still impose 
capital punishment, but he said the UN secretary general had never interfered, 
he claimed.

He suspected that Ban Ki-moon was being pressured by Australia, France, and 
Brazil.

Ban Ki-moon's statement could lower the UNs credibility as he never intervened 
in the executions carried out in other countries, he affirmed.

A spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement on April 25 
urging the Government of Indonesia to refrain from carrying out the execution, 
as announced, of the nine prisoners on death row for alleged drug-related 
crimes.

In accordance with the international law, if death penalty is to be granted at 
all, it should only be imposed for the most heinous of crimes, such as for 
those involved in intentional killings and only with appropriate safeguards, 
Ban emphasized.

"Drug-related offenses are generally not considered to fall under the category 
of most serious crimes," he noted in the statement.

Recalling that the United Nations opposes the death penalty in all 
circumstances, the secretary-general urges President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to 
urgently consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia, 
with a view towards abolition, it added.

(source: Antara News)

**************************

Chan and Sukumaran lawyer said there had been real hope of last minute clemency



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Peter Morrissey SC has been part of the legal team 
representing Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. He spoke to ABC News Breakfast 
earlier this morning.

VIRGINIA TRIOLI: Did you really have hope that maybe, just maybe something 
could happen at the last minute?

PETER MORRISSEY: Yes. yeah, we did because had two bona fide legal processes - 
one in the Constitutional Court, the other one down at the Judicial Commission. 
Each one of them should have caused anyone on death row to be adjourned or 
deferred.

There was terrible corruption at the start of this case and in terms of the 
Constitutional Court matter, well, president Widodo didn't give individual 
consideration to our 2 boys. They were just shot as part of the mass mob.

Look, it's a funny thing to say, it's awful, Virginia, I know but the 2 boys 
died well, you know. They made their preparations. They were dignified. They're 
strong against the death penalty. They're supportive of their families.

VIRGINIA TRIOLI: It just seemed - there seemed to be a rather pig headed blind 
spot when it came to these two men in the Indonesian legal and political 
system. Is that your view too?

PETER MORRISSEY: No, it's not, it's not my view. I don't think they were 
singled out for being Australian. I hope that rabbit doesn't start running. The 
first thing is that the boys were killed and that's just.... it's - it's 
horrible and it's the death penalty at work.

The 2nd thing is that the Indonesian president and his attorney general are 
both politicians in a position of weakness and they're using this as a display 
of strength. And it's horrible to see that, you know, they're prepared to 
dispense with lives - probably 63-odd lives at the moment - for that end.

And finally, the way they rode over their justice system, it's confronting to 
me as a lawyer and those of us in the legal team who tried our best, it's as if 
we're using the wrong song book, you know? We're talking the language of law 
and they - those 2 - are talking the language of power.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: That's lawyer Peter Morrissey, speaking to ABC News 
Breakfast's Virginia Trioli.

(source: ABC News)

****************************

Veloso's legal team to try to prove her innocence once more



A member of Philippine death row inmate Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso's legal team, 
Agus Salim, says the team will use the postponement of her execution to prove 
her innocence.

"[Her family] were happy even though it is only a temporary reprieve. They 
cried tears of happiness but they know this doesn't mean her execution is 
cancelled," he said on Wednesday. Veloso was among 9 death row inmates slated 
to be executed in the early hours of Wednesday for drug trafficking charges.

She was arrested in possession of 2.6 kilograms of heroin at Adisucipto 
International Airport in Yogyakarta in 2010. The government announced Veloso's 
execution would be postponed after the Philippine government said Veloso was 
needed to testify as a witness for alleged trafficker Maria Kristina Sergio, 
who voluntarily turned herself in to the police on Tuesday. Veloso was one of 
Sergio's trafficking victims.

Agus said Veloso's legal team would try to file a 3rd appeal after the 
investigation of Sergio began.

"We want to prove that she was just a migrant worker who was trafficked and 
became a drug courier," he said.

However, he acknowledged the Supreme Court's regulation that a case review 
appeal could only be filed once was problematic, especially since the 
Constitutional Court had ruled otherwise. "This difference [between the two 
courts] is hampering efforts to find the truth," Agus said.

Veloso had previously filed 2 case review appeals at the Supreme Court, but 
both were rejected.

"Everyone knows she had no intention [to bring the drugs]. She does not have to 
be free, we are just trying to find the lightest sentence we can get for her 
and avoid the death penalty," Agus said.

Defying intense pressure from the international community, the government 
executed 8 death row inmates early on Wednesday on Nusakambangan prison island 
near Cilacap in Central Java. The 8 were Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Australians 
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians 
Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili Oyatanze and 
Ghanaian Martin Anderson.

(source: The Jakarta Post)

******************************

Will British grandmother be next to face the firing squad? Woman on death row 
in Bali condemns 'senseless, brutal deaths' of two Australian fellow prisoners 
shot dead on Execution Island ---- Lindsay Sandiford fears she will be next to 
face the firing squad



A British grandmother on death row in Bali for smuggling cocaine has condemned 
the execution of the Australian Bali Nine duo as 'senseless and brutal'.

Lindsay Sandiford, 58, from Cheltenham, now fears she will be the next to face 
the firing squad and said she 'feels like giving up' and 'just wants to get it 
over with'.

Australians Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, were executed along with 
6 other prisoners by an Indonesian firing squad.

The grandmother told a friend she was 'utterly heartbroken' at the news about 
Chan, who she had befriended in Bali's squalid Kerobokan prison.

The Australian pair were the first to die in the latest round of executions 
after a final KFC bucket meal.

She said: 'The men shot dead were reformed men - good men who transformed the 
lives of people around them. Their senseless, brutal deaths leave the world a 
poorer place.If they kill someone as good as Andrew, what hope is there for me?

'I just want to get it over with. I feel like just giving up.'

Sandiford says Chan - who was sentenced to death in 2005 for masterminding the 
so-called Bali 9 heroin smuggling plot - helped her cope in jail after she was 
given her death penalty 2 years ago.

She said: 'I really admire Andrew. He's been an incredible help to me and he 
would be there for anyone who genuinely needed help inside the prison.

'The heart of the prison has gone since they left. They organised 
rehabilitation projects. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have running water 
on the blocks, or the classes in painting, cookery and computers. I would like 
to send my deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.

'Many things have been said about whether Andrew and Myuran deserved to die for 
their crimes. I didn't know those men at the time they committed those crimes 
10 years ago. What I can say is that the Andrew and Myuran I knew were men who 
did good and touched the lives of a great many people, including myself.'

Chan - who turned to Christianity and was ordained in prison earlier this year 
- told Sandiford shortly before his transfer to Execution Island that he was 
reconciled to his fate.

He said: 'I'm not afraid to die but I am afraid of dying. I'm scared of the 
bullets and I'm scared it won't be a quick death.'

Sandiford has been languishing on death row in Bali since being convicted of 
attempting to smuggle 1.6million pounds worth of cocaine through the island's 
airport in 2012. She maintains she was forced to transport the drugs to protect 
her children, whose safety was at stake.

The British government refused a request to pay Sandiford's legal fees for her 
appeal.

Earlier ambulances carrying the corpses of Chan and Sukumaran arrived from the 
'death island' where they were shot dead.

The families of Chan and Sukumaran released a statement following the 
executions.

'Today we lost Myuran and Andrew. Our sons, our brothers,' they said.

'In the 10 years since they were arrested, they did all they could to make 
amends, helping many others. They asked for mercy, but there was none.

'They were immensely grateful for all the support they received. We too, will 
be forever grateful.'

The others executed were Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, 
Nigerians Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili 
Oyatanze, and Ghanaian Martin Anderson.

A law enforcement official was quoted saying: 'The executions went well, 
without any disruptions.'

In following through with the killings, the Indonesian government ignored 
agonised pleas for clemency from the prisoners' families and Australian and 
international officials.

All 8 death row prisoners refused to wear blindfolds, choosing instead to face 
their executioners.

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso - the Filipino drug mule who was the 9th convict 
sentenced to death - was spared after new information emerged about her case.

CHAN AND SUKUMARAN FAMILY STATEMENT

'Today we lost Myuran and Andrew.

'Our sons, our brothers.

'In the 10 years since they were arrested, they did all they could to make 
amends, helping many others.

'They asked for mercy, but there was none.

'They were immensely grateful for all the support they received.

'We too, will be forever grateful.'

The Chan and Sukumaran families were staying together in a hotel in Cilacap 
when the murders occurred.

Some relatives who were on the island reportedly heard the deadly shots ringing 
out and 'became hysterical'.

A Twitter account purporting to belong to Chan's brother, Michael, tweeted: 'I 
have just lost a Courageous brother to a flawed Indonesian legal system. I miss 
you already RIP my Little Brother.'

One of the pair's lawyers, Peter Morrissey, told the Nine Network: 'It's a very 
sad time.. the 2 boys are gone.

'They were beautiful blokes. It is really sad.

'We did have a good (legal) argument. We still have a good argument. We just 
don't have anything to (argue) it for.

'We'll all keep fighting the death penalty for sure but it's not going to bring 
the boys back.'

One of the lawyers for the Bali 9, Todung Mulya Lubis, saw the loss of the 
young Australian men as a personal failure.

'I failed. I lost,' he wrote on social media. 'I am sorry'.

As the executions occurred, at nearby Cilacap port anti-death penalty 
protesters lit white candles and sang 'Hallelujah' and just outside the gates.

Later, a silence fell over the area with only singing voices, music of Amazing 
Grace and prayers heard for the doomed Bali 9 duo.

The Australian government is expected to retaliate for Wednesday's executions, 
which Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had long 
lobbied against.

Even in the final hours, officials were fighting the death penalty ruling.

Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. It ended a 4-year 
moratorium on executions in 2013.

The country, which has now carried out 15 such executions in 4 months, has 
vowed to kill all of its 58 foreign drug convicts by the end of the year.

(source: Daily Mail)

**********************************

Axl Rose's Letter to Indonesian President Regarding Bali 9----Guns N' Roses 
singer pleads for clemency for men accused of smuggling drugs who have since 
been executed



Axl Rose sent a letter to Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday, pleading 
for clemency for two members of the so-called "Bali 9" - 9 people arrested in 
2005 for allegedly planning to smuggle heroin out of Denpasar - and a woman 
accused of smuggling the drug into the country. Although the woman - Mary Jane 
Veloso - was spared after a person who claimed to have recruited her as a drug 
courier surrendered to police, according to The New York Times, the men Rose 
named in his letter - Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran - were executed. A rep 
for Rose tells Rolling Stone the singer decided to make his letter public 
because he was "quite upset with such injustice."

"I appeal to you Mr. President, Mr. Joko Widodo to use your power...to show 
your country's strength and allow the world to witness an extraordinary act of 
humanity and bravery on yours and your country's part," the Guns N' Roses 
singer wrote in the letter, which he also sent to U.S. Secretary of State John 
Kerry, 3 ambassadors and the chairman of the National Commission on Human 
Rights of Indonesia. The full text of the letter is reprinted below.

"Their crimes were now long ago, their hearts and minds forever changed by 
their crimes," Rose wrote. "In a world where the bad often outweighs the good 
and evil and negativity would appear more and more prevalent we need and can 
use every person choosing to make a difference .... In doing so we show the 
entire world that we are capable of forgiveness and mercy, a much greater sense 
of courage, strength and humanity and being so much more than that which seeks 
to overcome and destroy us."

The singer wrote that not sparing the prisoners' lives would be a "cold, cruel 
and uncaring message of hopelessness," and he pleaded that Joko not be "blinded 
by rigidity and inflexibility." He also called their death sentences 
"draconian" and the act of killing them "barbaric, backward and truly 
disgraceful."

"It's true I do not know these men nor have I met them but their story has 
touched me deeply," Rose wrote. "I as well as many others could easily have 
found ourselves in their unfortunate and unarguably self-inflicted position. 
People make mistakes, sometimes big and horribly regrettable mistakes and 
sometimes more importantly people learn from their mistakes and make new 
choices, strive and succeed at true positive change. To not acknowledge and 
give such change the opportunity to prove it's value would seem in this case a 
greater crime than those originally committed."

Specifically regarding Veloso, Rose wrote that "executing those on the bottom 
rungs of the ladder in the chain of drug trafficking...seems more than unfair."

"I realize I am no one and no one to get involved with your affairs or those of 
your government and how this letter reads or anyone other than yourself thinks 
of it is irrelevant," Rose wrote. "Only the lives of these 3 human beings are 
what's important now."

He closed the letter by asking Joko to consider the message he is sending. 
"You've made your point and struck fear in both the hearts and minds of the 
condemned and anyone even remotely considering bad choices or already involved 
in those worlds," Rose wrote, noting that Joko assumed office in 2014, well 
after the arrests. "Life is the only thing important now, not death but life."

Despite Rose's letter, the government executed 8 people - 7 of whom were 
foreigners, including Chan and Sukumaran - after midnight on Wednesday, 
according to the Times. The execution of Veloso, a Philippine citizen, has been 
postponed, pending her testimony in the case of the woman who gave herself up 
for her. The paper reports that Joko had said that the country was facing "a 
national emergency" of drug abuse last October and that he rejected 64 appeals 
for clemency in death penalty cases for drug convicts.

Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran said that a judge had offered them a lighter 
sentence in exchange for money.

Axl Rose's letter to Indonesian President Joko Widodo

April 27, 2015

President Joko Widodo

President of Republic of Indonesia

Istana Merdeka

Jakarta Pusat 10110, Indonesia

Mr. President,

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. In 2012 I and Guns N' Roses 
were both fortunate and privileged enough to perform in your country in Jakarta 
for the Indonesian people where we enjoyed and were taken aback by the 
incredible warmth of the Indonesian fans during our performance and in meeting 
fans and people there wherever we went. It was a very special and exciting 
experience we are fortunate to have had and to have as fond memories. I would 
like to express our sincere thanks to your country for showing us such warm and 
enthusiastic hospitality.

The main concern of this correspondence is in regard to the impending 
executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran of the group referred to as the 
Bali Nine and of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso. In following their stories in regard 
to particular comments made in their regard by the Attorney General of 
Indonesia that their efforts and those of their representatives through the 
courts "are just buying time" I feel with all due respect compelled to ask why 
a government official derides the efforts of anyone trying to save their own 
life or the lives of others through proper legal channels? And if or why the 
government of Indonesia condones such comments by its officials?

As all three are still alive these are clearly not cases where nothing can or 
should be done by those who care to do their utmost in efforts to spare them. 
Under the circumstances it would seem that if they are executed regrettably the 
Indonesian government becomes the more offensive criminal.

I appeal to you Mr. President, Mr. Joko Widodo to use your power in ways to 
strengthen international relationships between your country and others, to show 
your country's strength and allow the world to witness an extraordinary act of 
humanity and bravery on yours and your country's part.

To show each of us that there can be hope and true redemption in times of 
hopelessness and despair, that rehabilitation and turning one's life around is 
not just for one's place in what if any afterlife there may be or one believes 
in but here on this earth where it can do each of us the most good in this life 
now. Where true justice is better achieved in not killing, not ending the lives 
of and not destroying others but instead in this case, this situation, right 
now in this moment in your hands in sparing the lives of these two able bodied 
young men who've proven in the Indonesian prison system they are more than 
capable of being productive and positive contributors to society.

Their crimes were now long ago, their hearts and minds forever changed by their 
crimes, their trials, the hurt they've caused their loved ones, their 
countrymen, their rehabilitation, remorse, the lasting and deeply embedded 
fears of the crushing reality of very real and drastic life and death 
consequences and their deepest desires to become different and better people 
and if not to be forgiven to be shown mercy and given the opportunity to prove 
themselves.

In a world where the bad often outweighs the good and evil and negativity would 
appear more and more prevalent we need and can use every person choosing to 
make a difference however that choice came about that we can get, that we can 
save, that we can salvage and we can spare the lives of including those who 
have seen and learned from the errors of their ways and in doing so we show the 
entire world that we are capable of forgiveness and mercy, a much greater sense 
of courage, strength and humanity and being so much more than that which seeks 
to overcome and destroy us.

To not do so does not send as much a message of deterrence but rather a cold, 
cruel and uncaring message of hopelessness and blindness by the powers that be. 
Please do not be this type of man, this type of individual blinded by rigidity 
and inflexibility and ignoring your true power and wisdom by not acknowledging 
true change verified, witnessed and confirmed by virtually all who've been 
involved with either of these men during their incarceration.

It's true I do not know these men nor have I met them but their story has 
touched me deeply. I as well as many others could easily have found ourselves 
in their unfortunate and unarguably self-inflicted position. People make 
mistakes, sometimes big and horribly regrettable mistakes and sometimes more 
importantly people learn from their mistakes and make new choices, strive and 
succeed at true positive change. To not acknowledge and give such change the 
opportunity to prove it's value would seem in this case a greater crime than 
those originally committed.

This is clearly not a case of hardened, unrepentant, violent or greed driven 
killers with no regard for the lives of others. They are not con men lying and 
faking their behavior over all these years only to return to the people they 
once were and are no longer. That these individuals must die purely as an 
example to others is in my opinion akin to a kidnapper or terrorist killing 
hostages to make their point and have their demands met. In carrying out their 
death sentences the example shown here is one of draconian justice where the 
punishment in this stage of the condemned's lives by virtue of their 
rehabilitation and genuine remorse over all these years no longer fits the 
original crime.

To kill these men under these conditions of their profound and proven change 
for the better seems a barbaric, backward and truly disgraceful act of pride, 
ego, fear and prejudice, prejudice against your own system and the souls of 
anyone who has committed what's been deemed a crime from one day making amends 
and having the opportunity to make things right by how they live their lives 
and not how they are brutally and with disregard executed.

In the case and impeding execution of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso executing those 
on the bottom rungs of the ladder in the chain of drug trafficking or those 
caught in the web of human trafficking who may not have had the luxury of 
qualified representation or even proper translators during their trial seems 
more than unfair and proves what? That a government chooses to condemn those 
that it would appear few if anyone truly cares about or has ever cared about to 
begin with? A mother who's quite possibly sincere hopes of making a better life 
for her and her children have been destroyed in a tragic circumstance and with 
her execution only makes things worse for her family and the sorrow of those 
who do care that much greater.

I realize I am no one and no one to get involved with your affairs or those of 
your government and how this letter reads or anyone other than yourself thinks 
of it is irrelevant. Only the lives of these three human beings are what's 
important now. That said I did not speak in jest or empty flattery when I spoke 
of how I and my organization were affected by the depth of warmth shown us by 
the Indonesian people during our performance and stay in Jakarta.

I ask you now to show such great depth of humanity and compassion now to these 
individuals and to deny your bloodlust in your war on drugs and grant clemency 
to these three individuals and give them a permanent stay of execution and to 
change the course of your own life and place in both your country's and world 
history. No other can do what you alone have the power to do and that is the 
power to show benevolence and mercy where mercy can be truly appreciated and 
given it's proper respect not only by the condemned but by the entire world and 
it's many leaders.

Give them a chance to prove you right by living where their deaths at this 
stage can only prove tragic and by all involved avoidable and unnecessary. 
You've made your point and struck fear in both the hearts and minds of the 
condemned and anyone even remotely considering bad choices or already involved 
in those worlds. Their crimes were not committed on your watch. Life is the 
only thing important now, not death but life.

Sincerely,

W. Axl Rose

cc:

U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry

U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Ambassador Robert O. Blake Jr.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the 
United Nations, His Excellency Mr.Rezlan Ishar Jenie

National Commission on Human Rights of Indonesia (Komnas HAM), Mr. Ifdhal 
Kasim, Chairman

Ambassador to the United States, Budi Bowoleksono

(source: Rolling Stone)

******************************

Australia To Recall Envoy To Indonesia Over Execution Of 'Bali 9' Pair



Australia is withdrawing its ambassador from Jakarta following Indonesia's 
execution of 2 Australians convicted of drug smuggling.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, at a news conference today, called the executions 
of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, 2 of the so-called Bali 9, 
"cruel" and "unnecessary." He called it a "dark moment" in the relationship 
between Australia and Indonesia.

"We do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," 
he said. "For that reason, once all the courtesies have been extended to the 
Chan and Sukumaran families, our ambassador will be withdrawn for 
consultations.

"I want to stress that this is a very important relationship between Australia 
and Indonesia but it has suffered as a result of what's been done over the last 
few hours."

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said it's the 1st time Australia has taken 
such a step when its citizens have been executed. The country does not have the 
death penalty.

Speaking alongside Abbott, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed the men had 
been executed by firing squad.

Sukumaran and Chan were the ringleaders of the group that was caught trying to 
smuggle heroin out of Bali in 2005. Their case attracted wide attention, in 
part because the pair have reportedly reformed themselves in the nearly 10 
years since their arrest. A statement by the 2 families, cited by ABC, said:

"In the 10 years since they were arrested, they did all they could to make 
amends, helping many others. They asked for mercy, but there was none. They 
were immensely grateful for all the support they received. We too, will be 
forever grateful."

Indonesia executed 8 of the 9 people convicted in the case. Filipina Mary Jane 
Veloso was spared at the last moment; the mother of 2 had claimed she had been 
forced into being a drug courier by a human trafficker. Her alleged recruiter 
turned herself in Tuesday morning.

The families of the convicted drug smugglers held farewell meetings with them 
today. 3 of them were from Nigeria, and 1 each from Brazil, Ghana and 
Indonesia.

The Jakarta Post newspaper quoted Suhendro Putro, funeral director with the 
Javanese Christian Church in Cilacap, as saying the executions were carried out 
at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday local time.

(source: NPR)

******************************

Indonesia defends executions, after convicts die singing



Indonesia on Wednesday staunchly defended its execution of 7 foreigners 
including 2 Australians as a vital front of its "war" on drugs as testimony 
emerged of how they went singing to their deaths.

Australia withdrew its ambassador in protest at the midnight executions, but 
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he was merely applying "the rule of law" 
against narcotics traffickers.

The 7 convicts -- 2 from Australia, 1 from Brazil and 4 from Africa -- were 
shot by firing squad along with one Indonesian, despite strident foreign 
appeals and pleas from family members.

Brazil expressed "deep regret" at the execution of its national, who is 
mentally ill according to his family, and said it was weighing its next move.

The condemned men reportedly all refused blindfolds and sang hymns, among them 
"Amazing Grace", as they went to face the firing squad in a jungle clearing, 
according to a pastor who was with them.

As the clock ticked down to midnight, a group of tearful supporters also sang 
hymns, embraced and held candles aloft during a vigil at the port in Cilacap, 
the gateway to the prison island of Nusakambangan.

After the executions, family members could be seen crying as they were ushered 
away by friends and supporters, an AFP reporter saw.

A Filipina originally set to be executed was given an 11th hour reprieve after 
a woman who allegedly duped her into ferrying drugs to Indonesia came forward 
to police in the Philippines.

The reprieve for Mary Jane Veloso was hailed in the Philippines as a miracle 
and a gift from God, but Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo stressed 
it was only a "postponement" to allow time for police investigations.

He added: "We are fighting a war against horrible drug crimes that threaten our 
nation's survival.

"I would like to say that an execution is not a pleasant thing. It is not a fun 
job," Prasetyo told reporters in Cilacap.

"But we must do it in order to save the nation from the danger of drugs. We are 
not making enemies of countries from where those executed came. What we are 
fighting against is drug-related crimes."

- 'They asked for mercy: there was none' -

Prasetyo also played down Australia's decision to recall its ambassador, 
describing it as a "temporary reaction", while Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi 
stressed Jakarta's desire to "continue having good relations" with one of its 
most important trading partners.

Australia had mounted a sustained campaign to save its citizens, who have been 
on death row for almost a decade, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the 
executions were "both cruel and unnecessary".

"We respect Indonesia's sovereignty but we do deplore what's been done and this 
cannot be simply business as usual," he said, announcing Australia's 
unprecedented step of recalling its Jakarta ambassador.

Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, ringleaders of the so-called 
"Bali 9" heroin trafficking gang, were described by Canberra as reformed men 
after years in prison.

The families said their sons did "all they could to make amends, helping many 
others" in the years since their arrests, with Sukumaran teaching fellow 
inmates English and art, and Chan ordained as a minister in February.

"They asked for mercy, but there was none. They were immensely grateful for all 
the support they received. We too, will be forever grateful," the families said 
in a joint statement.

Widodo, who took office in October, says Indonesia is facing an emergency due 
to rising drugs use, citing figures from the national anti-narcotics agency 
showing that more than 30 Indonesians die every day due to drugs.

- Plain coffins -

However some academics believe the agency's data is flawed, while critics 
accuse Widodo of pursuing a populist policy following recent political 
problems.

The bodies of Chan and Sukumaran, in plain wooden coffins, arrived in Jakarta 
after being driven from Cilacap in 2 ambulances. They were taken to a funeral 
home and will soon be flown back to Australia for burial.

There were very different scenes in the Philippines after the last-minute 
reprieve for Veloso, whose case attracted emotional appeals for mercy from 
boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao among others.

"Miracles do come true," her mother Celia told a Philippine radio station, 
adding that her daughter's two boys aged 12 and six were awake and yelling 
"Yes, yes, mama will live".

Little is known about the other 5 executed foreigners -- 3 of them are from 
Nigeria but it is not clear whether the fourth held Ghanaian or Nigerian 
nationality.

The execution of the Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, has generated much criticism 
in his homeland, with his family saying he suffered from schizophrenia and 
should not have faced the death penalty.

Gularte's cousin was seen crying as she left the port of Cilacap, accompanied 
by a religious counsellor.

A Frenchman was originally among the group to be executed but he was granted a 
temporary reprieve after authorities agreed to allow a legal appeal to run its 
course.

(source: Agence France-Presse)