[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 23




INDONESIA:

Bali 9: Execution date yet to be set for Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran 
Sukumaran



The Indonesian attorney-general's office has received notice that Australian 
drug trafficker Andrew Chan is to be executed.

However, a time and place for the execution has not yet been decided after Chan 
and his fellow Australian death row inmate, Myuran Sukumaran, were denied 
presidential pardons.

The ABC's Indonesia correspondent says Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran need 
"new evidence" to get a judicial review.

If they can't do that, they won't get the review and it will be up to the 
processes in the attorney-general department to decide when the execution is 
scheduled. The government plans to execute 14 more people this year.

As far as other options for holding off the process or delaying the process, 
the attorney-general spokesman said there were technicalities effectively 
around the way that it works, in the scheduling of the execution and in certain 
things that need to be provided.

They need to be provided with appropriate religious support. He cited a case of 
one of the women who was executed last Sunday had converted from Buddhism to 
Catholicism, so there was a delay because they had to find an appropriate 
Catholic priest to be able to give her counselling in her final moments.

There are just some technicalities around the process itself but effectively 
the government is determined to send a strong message against drug smugglers. 
It's determined not to allow any leniency or clemency for drug smugglers. So 
potentially we could see these 2 men facing the firing squad as soon as the 
government can manage to schedule it.

The letter declaring that Andrew Chan's bid for a presidential pardon had been 
denied, arrived in Bali yesterday.

The attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo previously said that Chan and Sukumaran 
would be executed together because they were convicted for the same crime.

The pair were given the death penalty for their role organising the so-called 
Bali 9 heroin trafficking attempt.

Mr Prasetyo's office confirmed that it received a copy of the letter yesterday, 
but was yet to decide where or when the pair would be executed.

It is expected the 2 Australians would get approximately 3 days' notice leading 
up to their executions.

Meanwhile, the men will attempt to appeal for a judicial review.

Technically the men have exhausted their legal avenues for appeal and have 
already had one judicial review at the Supreme Court level.

However, they are pressing for a review of the entire legal process as well as 
the president's clemency decision itself.

The 6 people put to death in Indonesia last weekend were denied clemency just a 
month earlier, and given 3 days' notice of their execution.

An expert in Indonesian law at Melbourne University, Dave McCraem, said it was 
difficult to predict when the pair would face the firing squad.

"There are no certain timelines with executions in Indonesia. You only have to 
look at the 6 executions last weekend to see that," he said.

"The woman from Vietnam who was executed was sentenced in 2011 whereas the 
other 5 people had been in prison for more than 10 years."

Pardon denial 'barbaric": Australian artist Quilty

Archibald Prize-winning artist Ben Quilty said it was barbaric to deny a 
presidential pardon for 2 Australian drug smugglers being held in Indonesia.

He had advocated for clemency to be granted to Sukumaran and Chan, and has 
visited them in Bali for the past 4 years.

Quilty told 702 ABC Sydney he was devastated by the news.

"Obviously it's very bleak. It's very very bleak, and the outcome is very 
barbaric," he said.

"I'm bringing my children up to know that you never punch, you never hit, you 
never shirt-front and you definitely don't shoot people, and that forgiveness 
and compassion are the two things that if my children have, I'll be proud of 
them no matter what."

Flawed masculinity is a recurring theme in artist Ben Quilty's work, which 
explores young men facing their ultimate fears and own mortality.

Quilty, who has run art lessons for Sukumaran and other inmates, said the pair 
should not have to die for foolish decisions they made as young men when they 
have made such gains since then.

"I can promise you, you sit in front of them and can see it in their eyes and 
realise the way they have rehabilitated themselves - and the Indonesians have 
rehabilitated them as well, they should be applauded for it," he said.

"But to then, at the end of 10 years of this incredible rehabilitation, to put 
bullets in their chests is just unfathomable. I can't get my head around it."

Melbourne pastor Christie Buckingham also visited the pair frequently, and said 
she had no doubt they had been reformed.

"In Indonesian law there is a place for rehabilitation, there is a place if the 
condemned is rehabilitated that they will not be executing," Ms Buckingham 
said.

"These boys are reformed, I can vouch for them, other people who have seen them 
can vouch for them, the governor of the prison made an unprecedented appeal 
that he has seen their reform."

(source: ABC news)

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

Hopes that Bali 9 pair will be spared----Campaigners for 2 Australian drug 
traffickers on death row in Indonesia haven't given up hope that the men can be 
saved.



Australian supporters of Bali 9 death row inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran 
Sukumaran say hope is not lost for the pair despite both having their last 
pleas for mercy rejected.

Local support for Chan and Sukumaran has soared since Chan was told on Thursday 
his bid for clemency from Indonesian President Joko Widodo had failed.

Brigid Delaney, co-founder of the organisation Mercy Campaign, which is working 
to save the men's lives, said support for Chan and Sukumaran was growing 
stronger, with more than 50,000 signatures gathered on two petitions seeking 
mercy for the men.

Interest in the case had been so strong the Mercy Campaign website crashed 
temporarily before being upgraded, and traffic on its Facebook site had 
increased "1000 %", Ms Delaney said.

"Hope is not lost," she said.

Final hopes for Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, now rest on a judicial review 
being sought by their Indonesian and Australian lawyers, and continuing 
diplomatic efforts behind the scenes.

It is not clear that Indonesia's supreme court will allow the review to 
proceed.

Ms Delaney said the lawyers hoped to present new evidence about the turnaround 
Chan and Sukumaran had made during their nearly 10 years in prison.

However, their 1st attempt to lodge the new appeal was foiled by a requirement 
that anyone seeking a review appear in person at the court - an option not open 
to the imprisoned Australians.

Chan, 31, is destined to face a firing squad for his 2005 drug trafficking 
offence, along with Sukumaran, 33, who has also lost his bid for a pardon.

News of Chan's rejection came as the Australian lawyer for the pair, Julian 
McMahon, was visiting them in Bali's Kerobokan prison.

Mr McMahon told the 9 Network that Chan prayed with a group of fellow inmates 
after receiving the news, then went to comfort another prisoner who was 
seriously ill.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the Australian government would not make 
further public comments but was "continuing to make every possible effort" to 
stop the executions.

"While Australia respects Indonesia's sovereignty, we are asking that Indonesia 
reconsider its decision to execute 2 Australian citizens," he said in a 
statement.

Mr Abbott said both men were reformed and had helped to rehabilitate other 
prisoners.

He said he had spoken with both men's families on Friday and it was "an 
unimaginably difficult time" for them.

Deputy federal opposition leader Tanya Plibersek said the opposition stood with 
the government in pleading for clemency from Indonesia.

"Of course these 2 young men have done the wrong thing and of course they 
should be punished," she said.

"But Labor always believes that the death penalty is wrong. The death penalty 
is wrong for anyone in any circumstance and we will always advocate for 
Australians facing the death penalty."

Indonesia's attorney-general has not named a time or date for the execution of 
Chan and Sukumaran.

6 people were executed for drug offences in Indonesia on Sunday - the 1st of 26 
prisoners the country's government has said will be killed this year.

(source: sbs.com.au)

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

Capital punishment and public opinion



The campaign to abolish capital punishment in Indonesia suffered a huge setback 
following the execution of 6 drug traffickers over the weekend. The voices of 
abolitionists were drowned out by those who came out in support of President 
Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who used the executions as an important part of his war 
against drug abuse in this country. Public opinion in Indonesia is still 
overwhelmingly in favor of retaining capital punishment, certainly for the most 
heinous crimes, including drug trafficking, which is rampant in this country 
and has such deadly effects. The execution of the 6 people who had lingered on 
death row for years may have revived the debate on capital punishment. Looking 
at public opinion and social media, retentionists have not only prevailed, but 
they also won more recruits.

11th-hour appeals last week in phone calls to Jokowi for stays of execution 
from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and King Willem of the Netherlands, 
whose citizens were among the 6 executed, fell on deaf ears. Prime Minister 
Tony Abbott has also been on the phone with Jokowi trying to save two convicted 
Australian drug traffickers, whose executions are apparently imminent. Abbott 
has to prepare for disappointment and Indonesia for more diplomatic fallout.

The foreign leaders' interventions, well-meaning as they are, may even have 
done a disservice to the abolitionists' cause. The executions have now been 
turned into a question of Indonesia's national pride with accusations flying 
about the West imposing its human rights values on us. But, as the saying goes, 
the harder they push, the stronger Indonesia pushes back.In response to these 
foreign meddlers, Indonesia has invoked its sovereignty rights and legal 
system, which recognizes the death penalty. And with 58 more on death row, we 
can expect a few more executions, including many non-Indonesians, in the coming 
days or weeks, just to make a point.

The human rights campaigners and abolitionists have now learned to their dismay 
that compassion is not President Jokowi's strongest suit, if he has any at all.

They should have known better. We have a leader who nurtures his power and 
political legitimacy mostly from public opinion, perhaps more than any other 
president before him because he does not control any political party.

This may have been the reason why barely 3 months into office, Jokowi ordered 
the executions of the dozens of drug traffickers on death row. His sagging 
popularity must have improved for taking a strong stand on drug abuses and for 
standing up to foreign meddlers.

His predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono waited at least a few years, although 
he too used capital punishment to shore up his public support. It was no 
coincidence that he ordered the executions of 10 people in 2008 and four in 
2013 - both times 1 year before a general election.Taking someone else's life 
is murder. There is no other word to describe it. These are murders legitimated 
by the country's law and, more importantly, by public opinion.

The nation accepted uncritically President Jokowi's repeated argument that 40 
to 50 people die every day because of drug addiction. Even if this fatality 
figure was true, how many people in this country die of smoking and 
smoking-related diseases? And how many people die, many of slow death, because 
of poverty and poor access to health care because the country's elite have been 
stealing money through rampant corruption. Since more people die of heart 
diseases, can you make a similar argument of how many people die because of 
eating too much meat?

The National Narcotic Agency (BNN) says more than 4.2 million people in this 
country are addicted drug users, making Indonesia a haven and a lucrative 
market for drug traffickers. Jokowi has declared Indonesia under a state of 
emergency.

This is something that many Indonesians will quickly embrace because it gives 
them a convenient scapegoat. Surely the responsibility of containing drug abuse 
first and foremost must fall on parents and the family and then the school, the 
religious leaders and their communities and then on the law enforcement 
agencies and the government. Supporters of the death penalty for drug 
traffickers rely on religious leaders endorsing the killing of human beings, 
even though most major religions advocate compassion and forgiveness above any 
act of vengeance.

The jury is still out that the death penalty will deter drug traffickers, but 
then this matters little in Indonesia. Public opinion very much wants it.Little 
did the public know that Indonesia was close to abolishing the death penalty 
from its books in 2008. A small band of abolitionists submitted a petition to 
the Constitutional Court and it lost by a single vote. Insiders say the vote 
would have been 5 to 4 in favor of abolition, but at the last minute 1 judge 
switched sides to retain capital punishment, apparently because he too sensed 
that was what the public wanted.

The campaign to abolish capital punishment is not over by any means. Clearly a 
large part of the battle has to be fought in the public sphere. Abolitionists 
need to organize and get their act together and most of all they need to learn 
how to win public opinion to their side.

(source: Commentary; Endy Bayuni, who is a senior editor of The Jakarta Post)

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

Australia asks Indonesia to rethink death penalty for 2 drug offenders



Australia called on Indonesia on Friday to reconsider its decision to execute 2 
Australians convicted of drug offences, a move that is likely to strain already 
fragile ties between the 2 neighbours.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the 2 members of the so-called Bali 
9 who were arrested at Bali's Denpasar airport in 2005 for attempting to 
smuggle 8 kg (18 lb) of heroin to Australia were reformed characters who had 
helped rehabilitate other prisoners.

"The prerogative of mercy should be extended to them," Abbott said in a 
statement. "Australia opposes the death penalty at home and abroad."

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who took office in October, has pledged no 
clemency for drug offenders, drawing criticism from rights activists at home 
and abroad.

Indonesia executed 6 convicted drug traffickers, including 5 foreigners, by 
firing squad last week. Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors 
from Jakarta, while Nigeria summoned the Indonesian ambassador in Abuja to 
protest against the execution of their citizens.

Abbott said he and Foreign Minister Julia Bishop had made direct 
representations to their Indonesian counterparts and "are continuing to make 
every possible effort through the most effective channels" to stop the 
executions of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

It was not immediately clear when the executions of Sukumaran, 33, and Chan, 
31, might take place.

Bishop said earlier this week she would not rule out recalling the Australian 
ambassador should the executions be carried out.

"This is an unimaginably difficult time for the families of these young men," 
Abbott said. "I spoke with both families today and will ensure the government 
continues to support them."

Indonesia has a record of imposing severe penalties for drug trafficking, 
resuming executions in 2013 after a 5-year gap.

Relations between Indonesia and Australia hit a low in late 2013 after reports 
that Australia had spied on top Indonesian officials, including then-president 
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.

Indonesia froze military and intelligence cooperation with Australia and 
restored relations in May 2014.

Abbott said the government would make no further public comment on the case in 
the interests of the convicted men.

(source: Reuters)

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

Funds up to $12,000 raised for Bali drug accused Antony de Malmanche



More than $12,000 has been raised for Dannevirke-born Antony de Malmanche's 
fight against a meth charge in Bali.

Money raised on website Give a Little was donated by 186 different people, some 
pledging as much as $500.

The 52-year-old Whanganui resident faces the death penalty or 5 years' 
imprisonment after being arrested and accused of trying to smuggle 1.7 
kilograms of crystal methamphetamine into the country.

His lawyer, Craig Tuck, said it was a "fantastic" start, but the trial would 
cost over $100,000.

Tuck, offering his services pro bono, said costs would mount during the case, 
which could last 10 months.

4 Indonesian lawyers were working on the case at a "heavily discounted rate" 
but general costs would mount through research and travel costs.

Tuck is not allowed to represent de Malmanche in Indonesian court.

De Malmanche was receiving "incredible" support from the public, Tuck said.

He had been receiving messages and phone calls from people wanting to help, 
because they realised he was in a "very dangerous situation".

Family media liaison James Bellamy agreed $12,000 was a good start and a sign 
the public's perception was changing.

"In the beginning, there were not a lot of sympathetic comments," Bellamy said.

Through almost daily conversations he had with family, friends and the public, 
opinion was starting to shift in de Malmanche's favour, he said. The help being 
given through the Give A Little page was a good indication.

"The process is a long one. It's just great to know that there is 186 people 
out there who care."

Shaun de Malmanche, the accused's son, started a Facebook page to garner 
support.

Bellamy visited de Malmanche in Bali a couple of weeks ago.

"He was a lonely man. Not a lot had been going his way; finally he felt that 
something good had come his way and he went for it." But he was taken advantage 
of and faces paying the ultimate price.

"No-one deserves the death penalty for being naive," Bellamy said.

De Malmanche's lawyers will argue the man was a "trafficked person" who was 
both vulnerable and unaware he was carrying drugs.

The accused said he fell victim to an online dating scam which took him to Hong 
Kong and eventually Bali, where he was found to be carrying the drugs.

He has been held in a Bali prison since early December.

Give a Little service manager Nathalie Whitaker said the cause was an "unusual 
case", as he was still defending the charge.

She said all causes had to be legally sound and it was up to the donor's 
decision to support each cause. "It's certainly no issue for us because they 
are not using the funds for illegal purposes."

(source: Stuff)

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

Does the death penalty deter drug smugglers?



Vivi was a curious 15-year-old when she had her first taste of putauw; the 
Indonesian word for street-grade heroin, in the early 1990s.

She recalls the bitterness ... and then vomiting copiously. Her friend 
reassured her that if she had putauw every day for at least 3 days the nausea 
would vanish.

Gradually she began taking larger and larger amounts. "When I became addicted 
bit by bit my social life was gone," Vivi says. She dropped out of college in 
her second year, left her mother's home and joined the junkie community around 
Kampung Bali, a slum area of Jakarta, where alley street vendors would hide the 
"PT" under dishes used to grind peanuts for Gado Gado.

It was to be a 15-year addiction. Withdrawal from putauw was so horrendous; the 
itching, the body aches, the diarrhoea, Vivi would do almost anything to feed 
her habit. She once smuggled 15 grams of heroin from Thailand in a cavity in 
the sole of her shoe.

Vivi's mother Martha, a respected journalist at an Indonesian newspaper, 
discovered not only her daughter, but also her younger son were drug addicts.

"When my children were still on drugs they didn't realise the troubles they 
brought to me. I had to quit my job because I couldn't concentrate. It made my 
life like a beggar's life. I felt I was dead. I run out of words to describe 
how drugs ruin someone or a family."

Martha is now in her 60s. She has no hesitation in supporting the Indonesian 
government's policy of executing drug felons, which resulted in six prisoners 
facing the firing squad last weekend.

Another 58 are on death row, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran 
Sukumaran, the Bali Nine masterminds who were sentenced in 2006 for their role 
in attempting to smuggle more than 8 kilograms of heroin out of Indonesia.

Both the Australians have lost their appeals for clemency from Indonesia's new 
president Joko Widodo. An attempt to secure a second judicial review of their 
cases is to be lodged but their prospects are very grim.

An appointment with a firing squad, where they would be executed together, 
looks likely.

For Indonesia's president, the scourge of drug abuse in Indonesia will "ruin" 
the nation. There is nothing short of a drug emergency. There can be no 
clemency.

While the scale of Indonesia's drug problem is debated, few begrudge a serious 
government effort to address the issue.

The puzzle is that Jokowi, as the president is widely known, is hanging his 
anti-narcotics campaign so heavily on the death penalty, bucking the trend of 
declining executions in Indonesia and the region.

He has a fervent desire to rid Indonesia of drug abuse, to be sure. But there 
is also a strong strand of politically motivated populism, and ignorance, 
behind the strategy.

Certainly, the views of Martha and her president are shared by many in 
Indonesia.

Polls show support for the death penalty in Indonesia generally sits at around 
75 %. There is widespread concern by families they will lose children to drugs, 
a fear fed by endless media stories about drug crime, death and accidents.

Despite public opinion, executions in Indonesia have been increasingly rare. 
Just a handful at the beginning and end of the final term in office of former 
president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

To understand the turnaround from Jokowi, who presented as a compassionate and 
progressive presidential candidate, another recent poll provides a clue.

It shows 3/4 of Indonesians are unhappy with his performance, a stunning fall 
from grace for a president who took the job only months ago after being elected 
with Obama-like fervour.

With his patron, former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, exerting huge 
influence, his cabinet has been stacked with questionable political appointees. 
The legislature is controlled by his political enemies.

A laudable and necessary move to eradicate fuel subsidies has caused 
consternation in the villages.

The furore over the appointment of a suspect in an active graft investigation 
(and Megawati acolyte) to the crucial job of national police chief prompted a 
Jakarta Globe headline "How Jokowi wasted his mandate of 88 days".

As his reputation as a heroic, can-do politician from outside the corrupt 
ruling elites is taking a battering, Jokowi is turning to nationalist issues. A 
crackdown on illegal fishing by foreigners has been cranked up, along with the 
executions.

"Jokowi believes in the death penalty. He's fully committed to it [but] there's 
clearly a sizeable element of domestic politics in what's unfolding," says Greg 
Fealy, an Indonesian analyst from the Australian National University.

Jokowi insists he is just implementing Indonesian law. He has always stated his 
support for the death penalty, which Indonesia regards as an important 
deterrent.

According to the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), 40 to 50 Indonesians die 
every day from drugs. It predicts the number of drug addicts will increase to 
5.8 million people this year, out of a population of 250 million.

The agency says these statistics, which are widely quoted by Indonesian 
government members, are based on 2011 data from the University of Indonesia 
which surveyed hospitals, schools and rehabilitation centres.

Reliable statistics on drugs and drug-related deaths are notoriously hard to 
come by in the region.

The UN's World Drug Report lists only 447 drug-related deaths in Indonesia in 
its latest report, almost certainly an underestimation,

Even on the BNN's numbers, Indonesia's figures are, per head, on par with 
Australia, where there were 1427 overdoses in 2012.

Attorney-General, H.M. Prasetyo, says executions were needed to "save the 
nation".

"We need to wage war and of course we can't compromise. There is no forgiveness 
for narcotics criminals. [Implementation of the death penalty] provides a 
deterrent effect."

Indonesia, certainly, has the right to tackle the issue of drug abuse, but does 
the death penalty work as the attorney-general suggests and deter drug 
trafficking? Many argue there is little evidence of a link.

Some countries where drug trafficking carries the death penalty - such as China 
and Iran - still have big drug problems, says John Ryan, the CEO of drug 
research and advocacy organisation Pennington Institute.

"The scale of people who get caught drug trafficking and the scale of the drug 
market proves most people think they will get away with it and are prepared to 
play Russian roulette."

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was also sceptical. "I don't believe that 
executing people is the answer to solving the drug problem and certainly the 
trafficking of drugs in and out of Indonesia," she told Sky News this week.

Jeffrey Fagan, who provided expert testimony during a constitutional challenge 
against the death penalty in 2007, said drug offenders are prone to 
"hyperdiscounting".

"Their reasoning in the face of threats of harsh punishment is skewed."

If the death penalty did deter drug traffickers, it would suggest that supply 
would reduce in the particular country, pushing up prices. Drug use would then 
also fall.

But a study of the experience of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia between 1999 
and 2005, a time when Singapore and Malaysia were executing heavily and 
Indonesia was not, shows that drugs were significant cheaper in Singapore and 
Malaysia Drug use also rose in both countries and remained more prevalent in 
Singapore than Indonesia.

"During this era, 73 persons were executed in Singapore [including more than 
1/2 who were drug offenders], compared to 2 in Indonesia," Kagan said. "Yet 
drug trafficking was increasing and drug prices were lower in Singapore."

Attorney-General Prasetyo describes the tentacles of crime syndicates spreading 
beyond the major cities to rural areas, saying 45 per cent of south-east Asia's 
narcotics market is in Indonesia.

But intimately involved with these syndicates are Indonesia's police force and, 
it is alleged, military.

Only this week in Jakarta, 5 police were arrested by anti-narcotics agents, 
including a member of BNN. 1 of them had in their possession 7000 ecstasy 
tablets and 700 grams of methamphetamine.

As well as being directly involved, bribe-taking by police is endemic. 
Notorious night spots where drug use is rife are also reportedly owned by 
military and police figures.

Jokowi's support for a graft suspect as the new police chief does not inspire 
confidence that he is prepared to tackle the issue seriously.

Dave McRae, a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne, believes 
the focus of a counter-narcotics strategy should be on high-level members of 
drug syndicates.

Many of the drug felons on death row in Indonesia were arrested in possession 
of drugs. "On face value they look like couriers or lower-level players," says 
McRae. "It is difficult to imagine high-level members of drug syndicates would 
be in direct possession of narcotics."

Indonesia's judiciary is also riddled with graft, a seemingly impenetrable 
barrier to convictions for drug barons.

McRae says rampant drug use in the prison population also needs to be 
addressed. It prevents rehabilitation and many drug dealers continue to 
organise their networks on the outside.

Indeed, the principle of rehabilitation has recently been enshrined in 
Indonesia's sentencing laws, but seems to have been jettisoned by Jokowi as 
well.

For Chan and Sukumaran, who have started multiple skills, anti-drugs and 
religious programs at Kerobokan prison, the development is devastating for 
their bid to live.

Vivi's years of heroin addiction included a stint in prison. The 2 women in the 
cells on either side of her; 1 Thai, the other Nigerian; continued to deal 
drugs behind bars.

"They would use their mobiles to arrange business outside prison," Vivi says. 
For a cut, the prison guards would act as go-betweens.

Unlike her mother, Vivi, now 41 and clean, does not support the death penalty 
for narcotics. She knew Rani Andriani, an Indonesian woman who was executed 
last weekend for her role in an international drug ring.

Vivi says the sentence was unfair; that Rani was merely a courier, while her 
cousin Ola, whose life was spared, had introduced her to crime and was a bigger 
fish.

Marcus Mietzner, a leading analyst of Indonesian politics, says the Jokowi 
strategy betrays its main motivation - "showing political toughness".

"Had the Jokowi government offered alternative approaches to the drug problem, 
that would have been a different story. Better prevention through health and 
education, fighting corruption in the narcotics police, and so forth - this 
would have shown a real commitment to the drug issue itself," he says.

"Instead, Jokowi presents an uncompromising stance on executions as the most 
important element of the war on drugs. It is not going to work, and everyone 
knows that."

Vivi would like to see prison reform. She wants guards to be paid better so 
they do not supplement their salaries with drug money. And she would like to 
see better security at customs, particularly at sea ports where the putauw 
arrives in shipping containers from Chiang Mai and Myanmar.

"It's like a plant," Vivi says. "You can't just cut the top leaves off, you 
have to destroy the roots."

(source: The Age)

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

2nd Dutchman on Indonesia death row appealing case



The Dutchman Siegfried Mets, who has been sentenced to death in Indonesia, is 
going to submit a revision request in February. This is according to his 
lawyer, Bart Stapert. Mets is convicted of involvement in importing ecstasy.

Stapert was also Ang Kiem Soei's lawyer, the Dutchman who was executed by an 
Indonesian firing squad last weekend.

According to Stapert, he has new evidence in Mets' case. "There is certainly 
new evidence that was not raised in the first instance and in appeal. This 
applies in particular to circumstances about his background that would make the 
death penalty unjustifiable." According to Stapert, this new evidence will 
"very likely lead to a different punishment than the death penalty".

Stapert admits that he is using the extra eyes that are now focused on 
Indonesia after the recent executions. "Given the recent developments in 
Indonesia, including the execution of my other client, we will not wait any 
longer. You don't want to ask the gods and take no risk with the timing." 
According to Stapert, Indonesia is being pressured from all sides. "If that 
leads to a stay of execution, then that will also favor my own client."

(source: NL Times)

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

Indonesia Faces Criticism for Executing Drug Offenders



Indonesia is facing widespread international criticism after executing 6 
people, including 5 foreigners. All 6 were found guilty of violating Indonesian 
drug laws. Other countries had urged Indonesian officials to cancel the death 
sentences. After the executions were carried out, 2 of the countries ordered 
their ambassadors in Indonesia to return home.

Brazil and the Netherlands withdrew their ambassadors from Jakarta after 
Indonesia rejected their appeals not to execute their citizens.

A Brazilian and Dutch citizen were among 6 people who received the death 
sentence for violating Indonesian drug laws. The other criminals were from 
Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam and Indonesia. All 6 were shot to death on Sunday.

Amnesty International has criticized the executions as what it called a 
"retrograde step for human rights" in Indonesia.

Indonesia began executing some criminals in 2013 after five years without 
executing anyone. No prisoners were put to death last year.

But 2 Australians could be executed soon. They were sentenced to death in 2006 
after being found guilty of leading a drug group known as the Bali 9. Members 
of the Bali 9 attempted to bring more than 8 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia 
nearly 10 years ago.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop refused to say whether her government would order 
home its ambassador to Indonesia if the two Australians are executed.

"It's been a long-standing position of successive Australian governments to 
oppose the death penalty so the Indonesian government is in no doubt where the 
Australian government stands on this issue."

Joko Widodo became Indonesia's president 3 months ago. He has said there will 
be no easing of the country's strong position against drug dealers.

Indonesia's top law enforcement official, Muhammad Prasetyo, has also defended 
the executions of those who were sentenced for serious drug crimes. He says the 
death sentence is necessary to protect the country against drugs.

He says Indonesia must be strong and never compromise with anyone involved in 
trafficking illegal drugs.

(source: Voice of America)








SOUTHEAST ASIA:

Drugs and the death penalty in Southeast Asia



Every few years, Southeast Asian countries make headlines for their capital 
punishment practices, and invariably these headlines come when foreigners are 
sentenced.

On Thursday, Andrew Chan, an Australian accused of drug trafficking in 
Indonesia, lost his appeal for presidential clemency. He is 1 of 2 Australians 
(the other, Myuran Sukumaran, lost his appeal in December) who will be executed 
by firing squad.

Under the new Indonesian president, this year has already seen 6 convicted drug 
traffickers executed. Among those executed were citizens from Brazil, Vietnam, 
The Netherlands, and Nigeria. These executions have, once again, brought 
Indonesia's death penalty into the international spotlight. Human Rights Watch 
has called out Indonesia's double standards. While Indonesia carries out the 
death penalty on drug traffickers, Jakarta has since 2010 lobbied Saudi Arabia 
to pardon one of its citizens on death row for murder. With thousands of 
Southeast Asians working in Saudi Arabia (many often in precarious employment 
positions), it is not uncommon for migrant labourers to face capital 
punishment. Most recently, the beheading of a Myanmar citizen in Mecca earlier 
this month caused uproar when a video circulated of the woman pleading her 
innocence moments before the sentence was carried out.

The persistent work to highlight such cases, particularly by NGOs like Human 
Rights Watch and Amnesty, has contributed to gains made in some Southeast Asian 
countries to abolish the death penalty.

In January last year Myanmar commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment. 
There have been no known executions in the Myanmar since 1989, nor in Laos 
since that time. Thailand has not carried out capital punishment since 1988. In 
effect these states are what Cornell University's Death Penalty Worldwide 
database describe as 'abolitionist de facto'. The Philippines, East Timor and 
Cambodia have abolished capital punishment entirely. Brunei hasn't carried out 
any known executions since 1957 (though with the enactment of the 1st wave of 
hudud law last year, that tide may turn).

Yet capital punishment is still practiced in Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and 
Malaysia. Most controversially, all these countries permit the death penalty 
for drug trafficking.

In a mass trial last year, Vietnam's highest court upheld the death sentence 
for 29 drug traffickers. In 2005, Singapore executed Melbourne man Van Tuong 
Nguyen for drug trafficking. Most recently, 2 Singaporeans were executed for 
the trafficking of pure heroin in July last year. In Malaysia, drug traffickers 
are among the 900 currently on death row. In Indonesia, of the 133 people on 
death row in 2012, more than 1/2 (71) were there for drug trafficking.

While the influence of powerful religious conservative groups is certainly a 
factor in the maintenance of capital punishment in Indonesia and Malaysia (just 
as it is in the US), a more holistic analysis of why the death penalty 
continues in Southeast Asia must place greater weight on the damage done by 
narcotics.

The region has a long and troubled history with narcotics. Drug gangs and their 
huge profits threaten internal security and development. Drug-related diseases 
such as HIV devastate populations and drug-fueled violence terrorises 
communities across Southeast Asia. It was against this backdrop that ASEAN set 
the ambitious (or fanciful) goal of having a drug-free region by 2015. Given 
recent rates of production, it was a pipedream.

The Golden Triangle still produces a quarter of the world's heroin. According 
to the UNODC 'almost all the heroin produced in the Southeast Asia is consumed 
in East Asia and the Pacific'. In 2011 the region consumed 65 tons of pure 
heroin with a retail sales volume of approximately US$16.3 billion. Crackdowns 
on heroin production in the Golden Triangle have led to the advent of 
amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), which are easier to produce. In the Greater 
Mekong subregion some 1.4 billion ATS, known locally as yaba, are consumed 
annually, with an estimated market value of US$6.5 billion.

>From the Golden Triangle, narcotics are then trafficked and consumed through 
the region. That trade will likely become easier at the end of the year when 
the ASEAN Community is set to introduce freer movement around the region. This 
in itself could see a push for stricter application of death penalty laws.

For law enforcement, the trade in narcotics has its upside. Extracting bribes 
from tourists caught taking drugs is big business. For poorly paid police, such 
bribes can net thousands of dollars (sometimes a year or more worth of pay). 
The incentives for them to crack down on drugs are therefore skewed. The threat 
of capital punishment exerts fear on drug offenders and therefore increases the 
bribes that can be extracted. Drug kingpins are seldom charged, let alone put 
to death. Rather it is the lowly traffickers and drug users who suffer the most 
grievous of punishments.

It is perhaps a strange logic, but abolishing the death penalty will go a long 
way to improving law enforcement and governance in Southeast Asia, thereby 
diminishing drug trafficking, which is the ultimate aim of governments that 
enforce the death penalty. If the region is serious about tackling drug 
trafficking it would be wise to abolish the death penalty. Tackling the scourge 
of drugs in Southeast Asia means tackling the death penalty.

(source: The Interpreter)