INDONESIA TO EXECUTE 57 DRUG OFFENDERS

 By Andi Abdussalam
      Jakarta, June 26 (ANTARA) -  Indonesian authorities plan to speed up the execution of at least 57 drug offenders, some of whom have been on death row since 1994.
      The plan to speed up the execution of the convicts, including two Nigerians who are likely to be executed Thursday night, came up at a State Palace function to observe  International Day against Drug Abuse and  Trafficking on Thursday.
      According to Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, there are 57 drug offenders on death row whose executions would be sped up by his office.
      Rumors had it earlier in the day that the two Nigerians on death row for dug offenses, Samuel Iwuchukwu Okoye and Hansen Anthony Nwaolisa, at Nusa Kambangan prison, in Central Java, were executed Wednesday night.
      But Chief of Banyumas Police in Central Java, Sr Com. Boy Salamuddin said the two Nigerian convicts had not yet been executed.
      "They have not yet been executed," he said through a cellular phone.
      Their lawyer, Bambang Sri Wahono said later in the afternoon that Anthony and Okoye had contacted their wives at 1 pm informing that they had just signed minutes on the implementation of their execution.
      Two ambulances carrying two coffins entered Wijayapura port of Cilacap district at 4.30 am Thursday. The coffins will be ferried to the Nusakambangan Island where the prison for two convicted is located.
     "We were called at 24 hours last night to deliver two coffins to Nusakambangan at 4.30 am," the ambulance crew said.
      The two ambulances were transported to  Nusakambangan at about 5 am by the 'Pengayonam II' ferry belonging to the Ministry of Legal and Human Rights Affairs.
      On Tuesday, prosecutors said that the execution of the two Nigerian nationals would be done in secret. "The date of the execution is not to be made public to prevent public controversy,"  Monang Pardede, assistant deputy to the General Crimes chief of the Central Java higher prosecutor's office, said on Tuesday.
     Director of Narcotics Affairs at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department, Brig. Gen. Indardi Thanos, was quoted by 'Media Indonesia' daily on Tuesday last week as saying that Okoye and Anthony would be executed in late July 2008 at the latest.
     He said  the National Police were ready for the execution to be carried out on  International Anti-Narcotics Day on June 26.
     Okoye was sentenced to death by the district court of Tangerang, Banten, on July 5, 2001 for smuggling in 3.8 kg of heroin to Indonesia through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.  In the meantime, Anthony was given the death penalty by the same court on August 13, 2001 for circulating  3.2 kg of heroin in Indonesia.
      The death row convicts were sent to the Nusakambangan prison on Nusakambangan Island, a prison for notorious criminals in Cilacap district, Central Java.
      Minister for Legal and Human Rights Affairs Andi Mattalatta issued a recommendation for the execution of the two Nigerians and sent it to the public prosecutor's office on June 13, 2008.
      Pardede said in order to prevent undue public reactions, the executions would be publicized after they had been carried out. "We are afraid we will  face difficulties if they are announced beforehand," he said.
      He said  the two convicts had made legal efforts such as  filing requests for a judicial review or for a pardon but they were all rejected.
      On Monday last week, Deputy Attorney General for General Crimes (Jampidum) Abdul Hakim Ritonga said the two Nigerian drug death row convicts would be executed this week.
      But he did not mention  any date for the executions because preparations still had to be made and the security condition of the place of execution had to be guaranteed.
      According to Brig. Gen. Thanos, the execution of drug death row convicts will not stop with the Anthony and Okoye cases.
      "We hope the implementation of the execution will not stop until that of Anthony's and Okoye's cases. We also hope that the executions will teach foreign drug traffickers a lesson and discourage them from bringing drugs into  Indonesia,"   he said.
      Records made available at the public prosecutor's office show that since 1994 there had been 72 drug criminals on death row for narcotics offenses in Indonesia.  Three of them had been executed, one has died natural death, five have had their sentence reduced to life, and one has received imprisonment reduction to 15 years.
     The three death row convicts who had previously been executed were Ayodya Prasad Chaubay, Saelow Prasad and Namsong. They all faced a firing squad in Medan, North Sumatra, several years ago.
     The large number of death row convicts having their execution delayed is due to the fact that many of them are filing a judicial review or asking for pardon. The submission of a judicial review, or a request for pardon is not restricted by a deadline.
      Some have filed requests for a judicial review such as Hunphery Ejke alias Doctor, Mgs Zaenal Abidin and Rahen Agbaje and have waited for years, but they have yet to receive answers.
       National Anti-Narcotics Body (BBN) data show that the criminal drug  cases in the country increased from 17,355 in 2006 to 22,630 cases. The number of offenders was also up from 31,635 in 2006 to 36,169.
     At present, the number of drug addicts in Indonesia is estimated at eight million people. Some 15,000 of them die annually. A survey showed that illegal narcotics dealers operate in all regions in Indonesia.(T.A014/A/HAJM/16:40/a014)
(T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 26-06-2008 17:59:39