Indian among 14 prisoners who could be executed by Indonesia

Indian national Gurdip Singh is among 14 people who could face a firing squad this week when Indonesia resumes executing prisoners, prompting foreign minister Sushma Swaraj to say on Wednesday that New Delhi is making “last minute efforts” to save him.

Amnesty International has criticised the Indonesian government’s decision to go ahead with the execution of 10 foreigners and four Indonesians, saying some of the prisoners who could face the firing squad were “convicted in manifestly unfair trials and have not submitted clemency request to the President”.

Singh, 48, was found guilty of trying to smuggle 300 grams of heroin into Indonesia in 2004 and was sentenced to death by the state district court at Tanggerang in Banten province in February 2005.

He was sentenced to death along with a Brazilian even though prosecutors had recommended a 20-year jail term for Singh, who is also known as Vishal and belongs to Jalandhar in Punjab.

Singh also retracted a statement he had made against Pakistani national Zulfiqar Ali, who is among the prisoners who could be executed this week. Singh admitted he was coerced into making the false admission against Ali in return for a lenient sentence for himself.

Swaraj said in a tweet on Wednesday evening: “We are making last minute efforts to save him (Singh) from execution on 28 July.” She said in another tweet that Singh was “facing death sentence in a drug case”.

Among the 10 foreign nationals facing execution in Indonesia are Pakistani citizen Zulfiqar Ali, a Zimbabwean, a Senegalese, a South African and five Nigerians, Amnesty International said.

“There is no evidence to support President Widodo’s position. The death penalty does not deter crime... It is never the solution, and it will damage Indonesia’s standing in the world,” said Josef Benedict, deputy director of Amnesty’s Southeast Asia and Pacific regional office.