Chaubey too old to be executed: India<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indian government has expressed objection to the planned
\nexecution of its national Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey, 65, for drug
\ntrafficking, saying the death row convict is too old to face a
\nfiring squad.<\/p>\n
Attorney General M.A. Rahman said on Monday his office had
\nreceived a letter from the Indian Embassy in Jakarta to convey
\nthe objection.<\/p>\n
The letter, citing Indian law, stated that Chaubey was too old
\nto be executed, he said without elaborating.<\/p>\n
When contacted by The Jakarta Post later in the day, Indian
\nAmbassador HK Singh declined to confirm or comment on the letter
\nbut said he would explain the matter on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
However, Rahman said prosecutors and police were preparing to
\nset a date and place to execute Chaubey, while a firing squad was
\non standby.<\/p>\n
\"Our law doesn't have an age restriction on execution, so we
\nwill go ahead with plans to execute him as soon as possible. But
\nwe can't tell you the date or place,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The execution became imminent after prosecutors received a
\ncopy of the final verdict on Chaubey's conviction by the Supreme
\nCourt.<\/p>\n
Rahman promised to fulfill all of the convict's requests
\nbefore ordering his execution.<\/p>\n
The attorney general said the execution would be by police
\nfiring squad and closed to the public. Its date will also be kept
\nsecret, with the prosecution informing the convict and his family
\nonly three days before his execution.<\/p>\n
Chaubey was arrested in 1994 in Medan, North Sumatra, when
\ntrying to smuggle 12 kilograms of heroin into the country. The
\nlocal district court sentenced him to death one year later.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, he appealed to higher courts but both the Medan
\nHigh Court and the Supreme Court rejected his appeals. President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri also turned down his plea for clemency.<\/p>\n
There are many death-row drug convicts but only one drug
\noffender has been executed in the last 10 years when Malaysian
\nChan Ting Tong, alias Steven Chong, was shot by a 12-man firing
\nsquad.<\/p>\n
Human rights campaigners have pushed for an end to the death
\npenalty, which they say has proven ineffective in deterring drug
\ndealers and is against the basic human right to live.<\/p>\n
Rahman announced that his office and police were also
\npreparing to execute seven other foreigners convicted of drug
\ntrafficking in Indonesia after their clemency pleas were rejected
\nby the President last Thursday.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors are completing all administrative requirements
\nfor their executions, he added.<\/p>",
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