Ex-army officer executed 9 years after conviction<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A retired Army sergeant major was executed in
\nthe early hours in Central Sulawesi yesterday, nine years after
\nhe was convicted by a court for killing four people, the Antara
\nnews agency reported.<\/p>\n
Kacong Laranu, 63, was executed at around 2. a.m. by a firing
\nsquad brought in from Manado Police at an undisclosed location in
\nCentral Sulawesi, Soewarso, the chief of the province's high
\nprosecution office, was reported by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Kacong had exhausted all legal channels for a reprieve,
\nincluding a request for a presidential pardon which was turned
\ndown in 1992, and a demand for a review of his case by the
\nSupreme Court, which was also rejected late last year.<\/p>\n
Kacong was convicted by the district court in Palu, the
\ncapital of Central Sulawesi, for the murder of four family
\nmembers in the Mpanau village in Donggala regency in 1985. The
\nmotive was personal revenge.<\/p>\n
The victims were Sirajuddin, 44 years old, his wife Siti
\nRamlah, 43, and two of their children Erni, 9, and Fitria, 8.<\/p>\n
There could have been six victims but neighbors found
\nSirajuddin's other two children and got them to medical attention
\nin time.<\/p>\n
Soewarso explained that in line with procedures, the execution
\nwas witnessed by a senior police officer, Lt. Col. Piet
\nTacumansang, Kacong's lawyer Frans Manurung and a number of
\npriests. His body was then examined by a government doctor to
\ncertify that he was dead.<\/p>\n
One of Kacong's last requests, to meet his relatives, was
\ngranted a few days ago, the chief prosecutor said.<\/p>\n
The convict also requested that the prosecution office arrange
\nfor his Islamic funeral rites and this too was granted, he said.<\/p>\n
His body was bathed and then a mass prayer was held led by
\nKawaian Abdullah, the chief of the local chapter of the
\nIndonesian Ulema Council. His body was then buried in the Talise
\npublic cemetery in Palu at around 4 a.m. None of his relatives
\nwere present.<\/p>\n
\"We granted all his requests,\" Soewarso said.<\/p>\n
However, he denied earlier press reports that Kacong had
\nrequested to have the execution delayed until after the
\ncompletion of the holy Ramadhan month to allow him to fast.<\/p>\n
\"There was no such demand among his last requests,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta yesterday, two leading human rights campaigners
\nonce again expressed their long standing objections to the
\nprescription of death sentences by the courts.<\/p>\n
Todung Mulya Lubis, chairman of the Foundation for Human
\nRights Studies, said capital punishment should be removed from
\nthe Indonesian laws completely.<\/p>\n
\"The death sentence is cruel and inhumane because it does not
\ngive convicts any opportunity to repent,\" he told The Jakarta
\nPost yesterday. \"Punishment in law is intended for rehabilitation
\nand not as a vengeful act.\"<\/p>\n
\"We must not tolerate the death sentence because any case is
\nalways complex. A murder cannot simply be attributed to a
\nperson's attitude, but economic, psychological and emotional
\nfactors all play their part.\"<\/p>\n
H.J.C. Princen, chairman of the Institute for the Defense of
\nHuman Rights, said the death sentence against Kacong was totally
\nmeaningless. \"The victims have already died. What good does it do
\nnow to execute the murderer?\"<\/p>\n
Princen agreed with Mulya's call for the abolishment of
\ncapital punishment.<\/p>\n
Besides murder, capital punishment is also the maximum
\nsentence under the anti-subversion law and anti-narcotic
\nlaw.(emb\/imn)<\/p>",
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