Indonesia executes seven foreigners
Indonesia defied the desperate pleas of griefstricken families and executed seven foreign prisoners Tuesday night, including two Australians, who had been convicted of drug smuggling.
A 12-man firing squad carried out the sentence after the inmates had been given 72 hours’ notice. During this time, their families were allowed five hours for farewells.
The death-row prisoners, who also included an Indonesian, had been found guilty of drugs offences ranging from possession of 72 kilograms of marijuana to smuggling heroin. Indonesia imposes the death penalty for all narcoticsrelated crimes and all received the same capital sentence — although a Filipina woman was spared at the last moment.
The two Australians were Myuran Sukumaran, 34, and Andrew Chan, 31, members of the so-called “Bali Nine” who were arrested 10 years ago. Earlier their families made their last visit to Besi prison on the island of Nusakambangan.
“I won’t see him again and they’re going to take him at midnight and shoot him,” said Sukumaran’s mother, Raji. “He’s not guilty and he’s beautiful. He has a lot of compassion for other people. I’m asking the government not to kill him please. Mr. President, please don’t kill him today. Call off the execution, please don’t kill my son.”
But this plea went unheeded and local media reported that Sukumaran was among those executed a few hours later.
Earlier, a dozen ambulances had arrived at the prison, nine of which were carrying coffins. A piece of paper displayed on the dashboard of one of the vehicles carried the name Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina who was ultimately spared. Her mother, Celia, described this as a “miracle.”
Four Nigerians and a Brazilian were also executed. Lindsay Sandiford, a 57-year-old British grandmother who was convicted of trafficking cocaine in 2013, remains on death row in Kerobokan jail.
Australia’s government had repeatedly appealed for clemency for its citizens. Julie Bishop, the foreign minister, denounced Indonesia’s conduct as “ghastly” and “deeply disturbing.” Tony Abbott, the prime minister, said previously that if the capital sentences were carried out, he would make Australia’s “displeasure felt.”
Now that Chan and Sukumaran have been executed, Australia could respond by withdrawing its ambassador from Jakarta and reducing aid. Abbott may also choose to cut ministerial and military contacts with Indonesia.
Sukumaran, who was born in London, was an art teacher and painter whose final canvas was signed by all of the nine prisoners awaiting execution. Chan married his fiancée a few hours before he was due to die.
Both were convicted in 2006 as the ringleaders of a plot to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia. The other members of the smuggling group have been serving prison sentences for the past nine years.
Abbott was criticized for declining to visit Indonesia to personally ask for clemency. “Tony, if you have any courage and compassion, you’d get over to Indonesia and bring these two boys home,” said Brendan Cowell, an Australian actor who joined the campaign for the pair’s release. However, Bishop said there was nothing more he could have done.
Abbott had repeatedly raised the issue with Joko Widodo, the president of Indonesia. After a four-year pause, executions for drugs offences resumed when Widodo took office in 2014.