[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 20



ISRAEL:

Israeli foreign minister on Facebook: Palestinian prisoners should be executed



Israel's hardline right-wing foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman plans to 
introduce a bill into the country's parliament, the Knesset, which would 
implement the death penalty for Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli 
lockup.

Alongside a photo reading "Death penalty for terrorists," Lieberman wrote on 
his Facebook page that his party - Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) - 
supports the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners.

"The struggle against terror is the largest challenge for the 21st century 
world. This is also Israel's great challenge, but there's a large gap between 
what Israel preaches and what is done here [in Israel]," Lieberman wrote.

"The 1st law that Yisrael Beitenu will propose is a death penalty for 
terrorists, because otherwise we're ordering up more terror and yet more 
terror," Lieberman continued. At the time of writing, Lieberman's post had 
already received more than 1,400 "likes" and had been shared 185 times.

The Middle East Monitor first reported on Lieberman's Facebook post early 
Thursday.

An estimated 6,200 Palestinians were in Israeli jails as of 1 December, 
according to Addameer, a Ramallah-based group that monitors the arrests and 
detentions of Palestinians.

Despite Israel's claims to be a democracy, more than 99 % of Palestinians tried 
in its military courts are convicted, according a military document leaked to 
the Israeli daily Haaretz in 2011.

Prisoner swaps

Lieberman also said that Israel should not negotiate any more prisoner-release 
deals with the occupied West Bank-based Palestinian Authority or Hamas, the 
Palestinian political party that governs the besieged Gaza Strip.

"Releasing terrorists, including those who carried out the most terrible 
attacks, like the Ramallah lynch[ing], is the worst possible message that can 
be conveyed in the war on terror," he wrote, referring to the killing of 2 
Israeli soldiers in that city at the outset of the 2nd intifada in 2000.

"You've got to signal to terror that you're changing your direction," he said. 
"That there are no more deals."

In 2011, Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli 
occupation soldier who had been held in captivity in Gaza for 5 years. Dozens 
of Palestinian prisoners released in that agreement were subsequently 
re-arrested, despite the lack of new charges against them.

Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners in 4 waves as part of 
precondition to returning to "negotiations" with the Palestinian Authority in 
2013. Yet, after the 1st 3 stages were completed, Israel reneged on the 
agreement and did not let the last 26 prisoners go home.

Meanwhile, numerous conditions were imposed on prisoners who were released and 
many from the West Bank were forcibly transferred to Gaza.

Another war on Gaza

Lieberman concluded by claiming that another war on Palestinians in Gaza is on 
the horizon. "It is clear to everyone today that a 4th engagement with Hamas is 
inevitable, and that what's important is to plan ... now how to avoid the 5th," 
he wrote.

Lieberman's post framed the wars on Gaza as a war against Hamas, although 
Israeli forces target Palestinians of all political stripes in its military 
offensives in Gaza.

"Every military operation must end decisively; otherwise we erode our 
capacities and our deterrence," Lieberman claimed. "The fact that we enter into 
a military confrontation with Hamas every other year makes it impossible for 
the State of Israel to make long term plans, like a normal state could, in the 
realms of policy and economics."

Israel's latest assault on Gaza - dubbed Operation Protective Edge - ended with 
a ceasefire in late August. During that attack, Israel targeted Palestinians by 
air, land and sea and more than 2,200 Palestinians - mostly civilians - were 
killed, according to United Nations monitoring group OCHA.

Lieberman did not specify what he meant by a "decisive" conclusion to war on 
Gaza, but he has in the past advocated for Israel to reinstate its 
on-the-ground occupation of the area. Though Israel's settlers were evacuated 
from Gaza in 2005, it enforces a suffocating siege on Palestinians in Gaza.

Shortly before Israel's latest attack on Gaza began, Lieberman called for the 
"full occupation of the strip," reported Haaretz last June.

(source: electronicintifida.net)








TURKEY:

Senior judge says death penalty should be debated after young woman's death



The newly elected head of the Supreme Court of Appeals has joined calls from 
the government for the reinstatement of the death penalty after the Feb. 11 
killing of 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan on a minibus in Tarsus.

Supreme Court of Appeals President Ismail Rustu Cirit, who is said to enjoy 
good relations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and 
Development Party (AK Party) led government, said on Wednesday that the 
reinstatement of the death penalty should be debated. "If a simple survey is 
carried out among the public, it would show that at least 80 % [of respondents] 
want the reinstatement of the death penalty," Cirit told reporters.

Key political figures within the AK Party earlier voiced their support for 
reinstating the death penalty after Aslan's murder. Critics say the AK Party is 
using the tragic case to reinstate the death penalty and that such a 
reinstatement would have negative outcomes in light of the country's already 
eroding democracy.

Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci posted a message urging the re-adoption of the 
death sentence via his Twitter account on Sunday night, as nationwide protests 
against the brutal murder of the university student continued. "I wish God's 
mercy upon our child Ozgecan Aslan and express my condolences to her family. I 
hope God places our child in the most beautiful place in heaven. We need to 
carefully discuss and reinstate the death penalty for murders such as that of 
Ozgecan Aslan," he wrote.

After Zeybekci opened the debate, a number of high-level government officials 
and politicians expressed their support for the death penalty, which was 
abolished in 2002 under reforms aimed at initiating Turkey's European Union 
membership by a 3-party coalition government led by the Democratic Left Party 
(DSP). Then a partner of the coalition, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 
did not block the government from going ahead with the proposal, but did vote 
against it in Parliament.

Binali Yildirim, President Erdogan's chief adviser, said while answering 
questions from journalists on Monday that "for this [Aslan's murder] and other 
incidents like this not to remain unpunished, reinstating the death penalty 
must be widely debated in the public [sphere]."

3 suspects were arrested in connection with Aslan's murder after a court order 
was issued late on Sunday, with protests against increasing levels of violence 
against women taking place across Turkey.

(source: cihan.com)








BANGLADESH:

Condemned man shown his death warrant



Authorities at the Dhaka Central Jail yesterday afternoon read out a death 
warrant issued by the International Crimes Tribunal to condemned 1971 war 
criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, who is also assistant secretary of the 
Jamaat-e-Islami.

"I have read out the death warrant to Kamaruzzaman at around 2:30pm. He wanted 
to talk to his lawyers to decide on his legal recourse," said Farman Ali, 
senior jail superintendent at the Dhaka Central Jail.

Earlier in the day, a tribunal in Dhaka issued the death warrant against the 
Jamaat-e-Islami leader in a war crimes case.

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 issued the warrant after receiving the full 
text of the supreme court verdict that upheld the death penalty of Kamaruzzaman 
for his crimes against humanity during 1971 liberation war.

The copies of the death warrant, wrapped in red cloth, were sent to the Dhaka 
district magistrate, the prison authorities and secretaries of the home and law 
ministries, Mustafizur Rahman, registrar of the ICT, told reporters at a 
briefing.

ICT acting deputy registrar Aftab-uz-Zaman left the office at 1:03pm to deliver 
the copies.

The apex court on Wednesday released the full verdict on Kamaruzzaman's appeal 
after all the 4 judges, who had delivered the verdict on November 3 last year 
by a majority decision, signed the 577-page judgment.

The judges are chief justice SK Sinha, justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, justice 
Hasan Foez Siddique and justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik.

With this development, Kamaruzzaman has now 15 days to file a review petition 
with the supreme court on its verdict that has upheld his death penalty for war 
crimes. The countdown, however, started from Wednesday, said attorney general 
Mahbubey Alam on the same day.

On May 9, 2013, the tribunal-2 found Kamaruzzaman guilty of 5 out of the 7 
charges brought against him and sentenced him to death on 2 charges, life term 
on 2 and 10 years' jail on another. He was acquitted of 2 counts of war crimes.

He challenged this verdict with the supreme court, which on November 3 last 
year upheld the death penalty for the mass killings at Sohagpur in Sherpur 
district on July 25, 1971.

Justice SK Sinha, now the chief justice, headed the 4-member supreme court 
bench.

The supreme court has so far completed the trials of 2 war crimes accused, 
while the trials of 7 others are pending with it.

Kamaruzzaman's counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said his client cannot be 
executed until the review petition, if filed, is not disposed of by the supreme 
court. The government has to wait 15 days to execute Kamaruzzaman even if he 
does not file the review petition, said Hossain while addressing a press 
conference at the Supreme Court Bar Association auditorium yesterday afternoon.

The counsel added that they have not received the certified copy of the supreme 
court verdict although they have applied to the authorities for a copy.

If the supreme court rejects the review petition, Kamaruzzaman will get the 
opportunity to petition the president for mercy. If rejected, then the 
government can execute Kamaruzzaman, said Hossain.

(source: Gulf-Times)








IRAQ:

Iraqi MPs demand ratification of death sentences .



The head of the Shia parliamentary bloc of the Iraqi National Alliance revealed 
on Thursday that 100 MPs from different parties have signed a petition 
demanding that State President Fuad Masum should ratify around 1,000 death 
sentences.

"The signatures were handed officially to the Speaker of the Parliament," 
Hassan Salem told Anadolu. "The petition included a request to host the Iraqi 
president in the parliament at a time to be determined, to find out the true 
reasons behind the lack of his endorsement of the death sentences against those 
convicted by the judiciary."

Paragraph 8, Article 70 of the Iraqi Constitution states that, "The President 
of the Republic shall assume the power to ratify death sentences issued by the 
competent courts."

Salem added that President Masum may find the signature of his predecessor, 
Jalal Talabani, on a previous agreement with the European Union not to ratify 
the death sentences. This would be a good excuse for not approving them, he 
suggested, but taking this position would be "contrary to the Iraqi 
Constitution and the law."

Talabani, who was president of Iraq for 2 consecutive terms from 2006 to 2014, 
refused to ratify death sentences in compliance with the EU agreement. Instead, 
he authorised his deputy, Khadr Alkhozai in June 2011 to sign and ratify the 
verdicts on his behalf. All death sentences from that date until 2014 were 
ratified but since Masum took office last July nobody has been executed for 
terrorism.

The UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) issued a statement last October in which it 
demanded that the Iraqi authorities should stop the executions. "Iraq must stop 
the widespread use of the death penalty," said the UN body, "which is unfair 
and flawed, and only leads to igniting the sort of violence that is meant to be 
prevented by such a sentence."

>From January to August 2014 the Iraqi ministry of justice executed 60 people, 
whereas 177 were executed in 2013.

(source: Middle East Monitor)



JAPAN----new death sentence//foreign national)

Chinese man sentenced to death in Japan for murder



The Nagoya District Court on Friday sentenced a Chinese man to death for 
fatally stabbing a Japanese woman and her son, injuring another of her sons and 
taking 200,000 yen in cash at their home in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, in 
2009.

A panel of 3 professional and 6 citizen judges handed the death sentence to Lin 
Zhenhua, 31, who was a student at Mie University at the time.

Presiding Judge Toshiya Matsuda, heading the panel, found Lin guilty of 
stabbing Kihoko Yamada, a 57-year-old company employee, and her 2nd son Masaki, 
26, with a knife and injuring her third son Isao, who needed 2 weeks to 
recover.

Police arrested Lin in October 2012 on suspicion of stealing a car.

In December that year, police served a fresh arrest warrant on Lin on suspicion 
of the 2009 murder and robbery after his DNA matched saliva found at the murder 
scene.

Lin pleaded guilty at the 1st hearing of the trial in January and prosecutors 
had sought the death penalty.

But Lin's defense counsel argued he killed the woman in a panic after she 
discovered him in her home.

(source: abs-cbnnews)








FIJI:

NGOs Welcome Removal Of Death Penalty



The NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR), has commended the Fijian Government 
on repealing the death penalty from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Act.

Despite strong opposition against this by Opposition Members of Parliament, the 
amendment was voted through by the Fijian Government last week. In a statement 
yesterday, chair of NGOCHR Shamima Ali commended the move.

"The repeal of the death penalty was one of the recommendations accepted by the 
Government during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), in Geneva last October, 
and it is pleasing to see that the Government has taken the necessary steps to 
give effect to this recommendation," said Shamima Ali, the chairperson of the 
coalition.

"The human rights community in Fiji has always opposed the death penalty and is 
pleased that arbitrary state-sanctioned killing is no longer available as a 
form of punishment in Fiji."

The coalition hopes that Government will also take constructive steps to 
implement the other recommendations from the UPR and welcomes continued 
dialogue with the Government in this respect.

A fiery debate took place in Parliament when Government sought to repeal the 
death penalty.

Speaking out against this very vocally was National Federation Party member 
Tupou Draunidalo.

However, despite her impassionate speech, in which she also launched a scathing 
attack on the UN, more Members of Parliament voted in favour of death penalty 
removal.

(source: Fiji Sun)








INDONESIA:

Politics and pride muffle pleas for mercy for Bali 9 duo----Indonesian 
President Joko Widodo's push to punish drug dealers is popular and he is wary 
of appearing to bow to foreign governments.



The mood was one of utter despair.

As Myuran Sukumaran and his family gathered on Tuesday morning in a small 
courtyard in Bali's Kerobokan prison, an awful realisation was enveloping them. 
Almost 10 years after Sukumaran was arrested on his 24th birthday for drug 
smuggling, his journey from selfish criminality, angry denial and then 
transformation into a man to be proud of seemed to be at its end.

"We were all standing around barely talking," recalls Chinthu Sukumaran, 
Myuran's younger brother, his voice shaking with emotion.

"We were trying to tell each other there was still hope but it just felt like 
we were lying to each other."

The previous day, Bali's prosecutor had revealed plans were well advanced to 
move Sukumaran and his fellow death row inmate Andrew Chan to Nusakambangan, 
the island in Central Java where the pair would be taken to a clearing in the 
jungle, trussed to a wooden stake and shot dead.

A move on Tuesday was "unlikely" but the men might be transferred on Wednesday, 
a spokesman for the prosecutor had said. It would "definitely happen this 
week".

Once on Nusakambangan, the conventional wisdom held, there could be no reprieve 
for the 2 Australians.

As members of the family wept, Myuran moved around, comforting them. Others in 
the Sukumaran clan busied themselves, collecting Myuran's treasured art books 
and canvases.

"He was trying to be strong," Chinthu says. "It was very difficult. For him to 
stay strong at a time like that, he really didn't need people crying around 
him."

This unimaginable anguish was suddenly interrupted just before noon when news 
filtered through that the transfer had been delayed.

It later emerged that Indonesian authorities had had plans in place to move 
them at midnight. It was - almost to the minute - an 11th-hour reprieve.

"Myuran smiled. He talked. He got back to his painting," Chinthu says. "We had 
something to eat. Myuran said he could actually taste the food. That hadn't 
happened for a long time."

And for the 1st time in weeks, Chinthu's brother slept deeply that night. For 
once, the sound of a gate banging in the wind, or a yelp from a fellow inmate, 
didn't make him awaken with sudden, adrenalin-fuelled dread.

Despite the reprieve, the men, their families and lawyers are under no 
illusions that the outlook is anything but grim.

The prospect that a prison guard will knock on the cell doors of Sukumaran and 
Chan, shackle their hands and feet and whisk them away to Nusakambangan remains 
all too real.

Indonesia's Attorney-General HM Prasetyo told Fairfax Media on Tuesday that the 
postponement of the transfer did not mean a delay in their executions.

Even so, he conceded he did not have a date for their appointment with a firing 
squad.

Moreover, one of the main arguments posited by Indonesia for the delay - that 
Nusakambangan was not ready for them, that isolation cells needed to be 
prepared and execution fields cleared - was disputed by the official who runs 
the prison complex.

And 3 other foreigners on the list of 11 death row convicts slated to be killed 
have been given strong indications that they will be allowed to pursue legal 
appeals or - in the case of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte - assessed to see if they 
are mentally ill and therefore unable to be executed under Indonesian law.

These are all small but positive signs that the headlong rush to execute Chan 
and Sukumaran has eased a little.

The delay, if nothing else, is a welcome relief from a torment that had been 
closing in at a frightening pace.

And it's a chance to redouble legal and diplomatic efforts to forestall the 
executions and convince Indonesia to grant clemency to the two heroin smugglers 
whose remarkable rehabilitation has long earned them admiration among 
Kerobokan's guards and inmates and is now, finally, resonating with their 
fellow Australians.

"We are grateful that we have this time. We are trying as best we can to use 
this time constructively," says Michael O'Connell, SC, one of a team of lawyers 
who have taken on the case of Chan and Sukumaran pro bono.

The immediate task is to pursue 2 legal appeals. The first, to be heard by the 
state administrative court on Tuesday, is a direct challenge to the refusal of 
Indonesia's president Joko Widodo - universally known as Jokowi - to grant 
clemency to the pair.

Indonesian law requires that Jokowi's decision be made "after thoroughly 
considering the clemency application".

As revealed by Fairfax Media this week, Jokowi made his decision to reject the 
petition for mercy without the documentation that was lodged with his 
predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, much of it outlining the transformation 
of the men behind bars.

He acted upon little more than a list of 64 drug offenders on death row, making 
a blanket decision that they all must be killed.

There is also a separate bid for Indonesia's judicial commission to examine 
allegations that the judges who first handed Chan and Sukumaran the death 
penalty had asked for bribes in exchange for a lighter sentence.

The commission has asked for more "technical" information but there is cautious 
optimism it will at least thoroughly investigate the claims.

Overarching the legal actions though is another, critical consideration.

Can Jokowi and his government be persuaded to reconsider their hard-line stance 
on the executions? Is there a way there can be some kind of backdown that 
allows the Indonesian president to save face?

To achieve this requires extraordinary diplomacy, and a favourable turn in the 
domestic political climate.

Jokowi has declared that Indonesia is gripped by a drugs emergency that 
threatens to lay waste to a generation. He and his ministers constantly refer 
to statistics of dubious merit that the country has 4.5 million addicts and 50 
people die each day from drugs.

His remedy for the "crisis" is simple - execute drug traffickers.

A quintessential political outsider with a reputation for personal integrity 
and decisiveness, it has been a difficult first few months in office for 
Jokowi.

He is battling the hostility of the old elites who continue to dominate the 
parliament and has been excoriated for mishandling of a bitter feud between the 
notoriously graft-ridden police and the country's anti-corruption commission.

"With a poor political base of his own, Jokowi needs to be popular to survive," 
says Endy Bayuni, senior editor at the Jakarta Post.

"To get public support, declaring a war on drugs was the easiest way ... I was 
surprised when he suddenly declared a war against drugs. It was hardly 
mentioned at all in the election campaign. My opinion is he was using this to 
shore up his authority."

Few doubt that Jokowi is sincere in his efforts to tackle the scourge of drugs, 
but there is little doubt he is milking it.

David McRae, of the Lowy Institute, recounts an incident at the opening of a 
mosque in Kalimantan last month, just 2 days after the first group of drug 
offenders were executed, where Jokowi made an address that resembled a campaign 
stump speech.

"Just imagine, 18,000 dying each year, every day 50 people. So the other day 
six people were executed. Everyone agrees, right?" Jokowi said.

"Agree," was the response from the crowd.

"I'm sure everyone agrees," Jokowi replied.

There is little doubt that Jokowi's hard-line stance is popular and it is 
against this backdrop that Australia is making its diplomatic entreaties.

After months of working largely behind the scenes, the Australian government 
has ratcheted up the rhetoric in the past week.

First came Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's observation that Australians might 
reconsider their holiday plans if the executions took place, comments that gave 
momentum to a "Boycott Bali" campaign.

This rankled Indonesians: why punish a peaceful Hindu island for a law that is 
applied nationwide? There was an inevitable backlash with many claiming fewer 
yobbo Aussies would be no great loss. Others posted idyllic photos of Bali on 
Twitter to point out what Australians were missing out on.

The I Stand for Mercy campaign also failed to gain traction in Indonesia. For 
one, there were no Indonesian voices in the campaign. "It doesn't resonate 
well," says Jakarta-based international relations expert Pierre Marthinus. "If 
it had been a collaboration between Indonesia and Australia it would have sent 
a much more powerful message."

Then Prime Minister Tony Abbott raised the $1 billion in aid that Australia 
gave Indonesia in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 
200,000 people, saying Indonesia should "reciprocate" by sparing Chan and 
Sukumaran.

Marthinus believes Abbott has "jumped the shark" with the comments.

It was like "looking into the eye of a child who lost their parents and saying: 
'You know what? We gave you money, now we want something in return'."

Australia is not the only country to make its displeasure known. The French, 
Philippines and Brazilian governments have been protesting about the pending 
executions of their citizens. The European Union and the United Nations have 
also very publicly urged Jokowi to reconsider.

"It was a big story but now it's bigger story and it's about foreign actions 
and how Jokowi will respond to international pressure," Bayuni says.

"This is unfortunate because it becomes a debate about foreign intervention, 
not a debate about the death penalty or the case of the 2 Australians."

Yohanes Sulaiman, a lecturer in international relations at the Indonesia 
Defence University, said foreign pressure puts the Indonesian president in a 
predicament.

"The last thing Jokowi wants to have is the image of him kowtowing to foreign 
governments," he told Deutsche Welle.

"The opposition and the media would have a field day condemning the government 
and that also runs counter to the image that Jokowi wants to cultivate, which 
is the image of him as a decisive leader."

Even so, it would be wrong to suggest that the international agitation over the 
executions has had no beneficial impact whatsoever.

Tim Lindsey, a professor of Asian law at Melbourne University, believes the 
highlighting of the "blatant double standard" of Indonesia's stance over the 
death penalty - fighting for the lives of its citizens on death row overseas 
while proceeding with executions in Indonesia - is gaining traction, especially 
in elite circles.

Last year Indonesia paid $2.1 million in "blood money" to stop the beheading of 
a maid who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for murdering her employer's 
wife and stealing money.

There are some 230 Indonesians on death row abroad and, if future attempts to 
save vulnerable Indonesians fail due to the hypocrisy of Indonesia's policies, 
the local backlash could be severe.

To pull away from the executions, Tobias Basuki, of Jakarta's Centre for 
Strategic and International Studies, says Jokowi will likely need something 
"tangible".

On that score, Bayuni says a significant contribution to assisting Indonesia's 
battle against drugs could be helpful.

"This movement towards executions for drug offenders is ultimately about 
fighting drug abuse," he says.

Indeed, Fairfax Media understands that Australia has been workshopping ideas 
with interlocutors in Jakarta about new measures to fund drug rehabilitation 
projects in Indonesia.

Ultimately, the best hope for Chan and Sukumaran is time itself. If the 
executions can be delayed for a few months, the political heat in Indonesia 
could subside.

As Sulaiman points out, Jokowi "could use the oldest trick in the book - just 
do nothing and people will forget about it".

Indonesian human rights groups are preparing an appeal to Indonesia's 
constitutional court about the validity of the death penalty.

A previous petition to the court was rebuffed but its decision ordered the 
government to review its capital punishment regime and urged that death row 
inmates be given 10 years to repent and rehabilitate to earn a permanent stay 
of execution.

Its recommendations have not been acted upon, and the human rights groups 
believe they have fresh grounds for a challenge.

"The petition is complex. There is not much time and a lot work to do [to get 
the legal case in order to submit it]," Bayuni says. "But, if it goes before 
the court, there should be a moratorium on executions while it is being 
considered.

"For me, that's the only way to get a stay of execution."

For the Sukumarans and the Chans, there is only gut-wrenching, agonising 
uncertainty. The diplomacy, the political intrigue, the strategies - and the 
critiques of strategies - are overwhelming and hard to navigate.

In the end, it boils down to one simple and profound plea.

"We just want mercy," Chinthu says.

(source: Sydney Morning Herald)

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

RI firm on fate of Australian drug smugglers: Kalla



Vice President Jusuf Kalla has denied speculation that the Indonesian 
government will postpone the execution of 2 Australian drug convicts because it 
is under pressure from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

"No, not because of that [Abbott's statement]. The legal process is still 
going," Kalla told reporters after giving an address to the national meeting of 
the United Development Party (PPP) in South Jakarta on Thursday.

He said that the decision to delay the execution of 2 Australian nationals, 
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, was due to technical issues.

Earlier, Attorney General's Office (AGO) spokesman Tony Spontana revealed that 
the reason for the postponement was to give the Australian government more time 
to arrange a reunion between the 2 death-row inmates and members of their 
families.

Australian media outlets recently reported that Australian Prime Minister 
Abbott had called on the Indonesian government not to forget the aid given by 
Australia to Aceh during and after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 
hundreds of thousands of people in the province. He expected that the 
Indonesian government would cancel the executions in return for Australia's 
assistance.

Abbott stated, as reported by Reuters, that Australia would feel "grievously 
let down" if the executions proceeded despite the roughly A$1 billion in 
assistance it gave after the 2004 disaster.

He said he was referring to "the obvious strength of the relationship" between 
the 2 countries.

"I was pointing out the depth of the friendship between Australia and Indonesia 
and the fact that Australia has been there for Indonesia when Indonesia has 
been in difficulty," Abbott told reporters in Tasmania. Australian Foreign 
Minister Julie Bishop also criticized the double standards of the Indonesian 
government, which she said made every effort to save its citizens facing death 
row overseas, despite pushing ahead with executing foreign criminals at home.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir told reporters in Jakarta he hoped 
Abbott's statement did not "reflect the true colors of Australians".

"Threats are not part of diplomatic language and no one responds well to 
threats," he said.

Analysts said that Abbott had made a blunder with his statement.Hikmahanto 
Juwana of the University of Indonesia (UI) said that Abbott's statement would 
only anger the Indonesian public and harden the resolve of the government.

"Abbott's statement is regrettable," he said.

Hikmahanto said Abbott gave the impression that Indonesia was dependent on 
Australia because of tsunami aid.

"The humanitarian relief was given to make Indonesia dependent on Australia and 
at present, Australia is using this dependence to save the 2 Australians, but 
in reality Indonesia never depends on Australia," he said.

UI analyst Makmur Keliat said Abbott's statement was a bump in the road in the 
bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Australia. "The statement did not 
reflect changes in the substantive bilateral relationship between the 2 
countries," Makmur said.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Indonesia 
not to execute prisoners for drug crimes. Also facing the death penalty in 
Indonesia for drug offenses are citizens of Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia, 
Nigeria and the Philippines.

The 2 Australians were accused of being leaders of the Bali 9, a group of 9 
Australians arrested on the resort island in 2005 and convicted of attempting 
to smuggle 8 kilograms of heroin to Australia.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Kalla, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. 
Laoly and Attorney General HM Prasetyo have all insisted that despite 
increasing calls from the UN and foreign governments for Indonesia not to 
proceed with the executions, the government would still execute 11 death-row 
convicts, 8 of whom were foreigners sentenced to death for drug trafficking.

The 11 prisoners that the AGO has listed for the upcoming batch of executions 
are Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, 
Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, Frenchman Serge Areski Atlaoui, Ghanaian 
Martin Anderson, Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami and 4 Indonesian convicts - 
Syofial alias Iyen bin Azwar, Zainal Abidin, Sargawi alias Ali bin Sanusi and 
Harun bin Ajis.

(source: The Jakarta Post)