‘Bali Nine’ set for execution
As the clock ticks down on their death by firing squad, heart-broken relatives who have fought for years to save them rush to say final farewells
Led by the hand through a scrum of reporters to an Indonesian prison island, the six-yearold Filipino looked confused and frightened as he made one of his final visits to his mother before her execution.
During the visit to Nusakambangan Island, Filipina maid Mary Jane Veloso gently explained to six-year-old Mark Darren and her second son, 12-year-old Mark Danielle, that she would not be coming home.
“She tried to explain again,” Veloso’s elder sister Marites Veloso-Laurente said during an interview in Cilacap, the port town that is the gateway to the island.
“If Mumma does not go home, just think Mumma is in heaven.”
As the clock ticks down on the execution by firing squad of eight foreign drug convicts, heart-broken relatives who have fought for years to save their loved ones are rushing to say final farewells.
The convicts, who also include nationals from Australia, Brazil and Nigeria, all recently lost clemency appeals to President Joko Widodo. They could be put to death as soon as today after they received official notification of their executions at the weekend.
Veloso’s two sons travelled with their family — some of whom had never flown — from an impoverished community north of Manila to hear a message almost impossible for them to take in.
Her case has drawn huge attention in the Philippines, with supporters calling for clemency at regular rallies in Manila. Even world boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao pleaded yesterday for her life to be spared, taking time out from preparations for his fight against Floyd Mayweather.
‘Bali Nine’
Two other high-profile inmates are the Australians, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, ringleaders of the socalled “Bali Nine” heroin-trafficking gang. Numerous family members and embassy officials have been rushing to visit them since notice of execution was given.
Australia made a last-minute plea yesterday for a stay in the imminent execution of the two drug traffickers in Indonesia, saying reports that their trial had been tainted by corruption needed to be investigated.
The call from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop almost immediately deepened a diplomatic row with Jakarta. Bishop said the allegations that judges requested money to commute the death sentences for the pair were “very serious” and called into question the integrity of the sentencing process.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, speaking to reporters at Jakarta airport after returning from a regional summit in Kuala Lumpur, said such concerns should have been conveyed years ago when the case went through the courts.
“Why didn’t they raise it before, when it happens for example?” he said.
Armanatha Nasir,
spokesman for Indonesia’s foreign ministry, said Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan had been given all the legal avenues to challenge their death sentences.
Australia needed to show proof of alleged corruption, he added.
Indonesia has harsh punishments for drug crimes and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap. Widodo has been unbending in his hard line on traffickers and his refusal to grant foreigners on death row clemency has strained relations with several countries, particularly neighbour Australia.
Tested by disputes
Australia-Indonesia relations have been tested in recent years by disputes over people smuggling and spying. In late 2013 Indonesia recalled its envoy and froze military and intelligence cooperation over reports that Canberra had spied on top Indonesian officials, including former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s wife.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott wrote to Widodo at the weekend, pleading for clemency in the Bali case.
The nine are being held at a high-security jail on Nusakambangan Island in central Java, where dozens of police and military personnel started tightening security yesterday, erecting barriers and keeping the public at a distance.
A local undertaker, Suhendro Putro, said he had handed nine coffins over to the police on Sunday. “I cannot say they are for those prisoners but I’ve been called for a meeting today at the port to prepare. I don’t know when exactly the executions will happen,” he said.
Chan and Sukumaran, ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine, were arrested at the main airport on the holiday island of Bali in 2005 for trying to smuggle 8kgs of heroin to Australia. The other members of the gang, all Australians, have been jailed for between 18 years and life in Indonesia.
Myuran Sukumaran
Sukumaran, 33, is an Australian citizen, born in London. In 2006, a court in Bali found him guilty of being the ringleader of the Bali Nine — a group of Australians arrested in Bali with more that 8.3kg of heroin. He was given the death penalty in 2006, and his plea for clemency was rejected in December 2014.
Andrew Chan
Chan, 31, is an Australian who was given the death penalty along with Myuran Sukumaran. He was arrested in Ngurah Rai airport in Bali in April 2005 and a court found him guilty of planning the smuggling of 8.3kg of heroin with the group known as the Bali Nine. His plea for clemency was rejected in January 2015. Like Sukumaran, other legal challenges have all failed.
Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso
Veloso, 30, is from the Philippines. She was arrested in Yogyakarta airport in April 2010. A court found her guilty of attempting to smuggle 2.6kg of heroin and she was given the death penalty in October 2010. She claims a woman working with an international crime gang had secretly placed the heroin in a suitcase she was carrying. Her two sons, aged six and 12, are at the prison now.
Martin Anderson
Anderson is a Ghanaian citizen, born in London in 1964. He was arrested in Jakarta in 2003, and a court gave him the death penalty. His clemency was rejected in January 2015.
Raheem Agbaje Salami
Salami appears to be a Nigerian holding a Spanish passport. He is believed to be Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, but entered Indonesia using a Spanish passport with the name Raheem Agbaje Salami. Salami was caught with 5kg of heroin in 1998. A court gave him a life sentence in 1999, which was reduced by the High Court to 20 years. He appealed and the Supreme Court gave him a death sentence.
Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise
Nwolise is a Nigerian citizen born on July 7, 1965. He was sentenced to death in September 2004 by a court in Tangerang. His clemency appeal was rejected in February.
The court found him guilty of trafficking 1.2kg of heroin in Jakarta in 2002. In January 2015, he was accused of running a drugs ring in jail.
Rodrigo Gularte
Gularte is a Brazilian citizen born on May 31, 1972. A court in Banten gave him the death penalty in February 2005 on charges of possessing 6kg of heroin that was hidden in a surfboard. He was arrested in July 2004 in Sukarno Hatta airport in Jakarta. His clemency application was rejected in January 2015.
Zainal Abidin Bin Mgs Mahmoud Badarudin
Badarudin is the only Indonesian citizen among the group. He was born in Palembang and was found guilty of the possession of 58.5kg of marijuana. He was arrested in December 2000 and a year later was given the death sentence. His clemency was rejected in January 2015. He has filed a judicial review and is awaiting a decision.
Okwudili Oyatanze
Oyatanze is a 45-year-old Nigerian citizen, and was given the death sentence by the Tangerang court for trafficking 1.2kg of heroin through Sukarno Hatta airport in 2001. His clemency was rejected in February 2015.