Indian drug trafficker to be executed soon<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office announced on Wednesday it was
\nmaking preparations for the execution of convicted Indian drug
\ndealer Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey following the Supreme Court's
\nrejection of his second request for a review.<\/p>\n
Attorney General's Office spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said
\nthe office received confirmation from the Supreme Court recently
\nthat Chaubey's last-ditch legal effort to evade execution had
\nbeen rejected.<\/p>\n
"The Supreme Court sent a copy of its verdict to the Medan
\nHigh Court last week. I presume the Medan Prosecutor's Office has
\nreceived a copy. We are now preparing for the execution," said
\nKemas.<\/p>\n
The execution will be conducted by a firing squad. The date of
\nthe execution will not be announced. The prosecutor's office will
\nonly inform the convict and his family one day before the decided
\ndate.<\/p>\n
Indonesia last executed a convict in 1994, when a Malaysian
\ndrug dealer, identified as Chan Ting Tong alias Steven Chong, was
\nshot by a 12-man firing squad.<\/p>\n
Human rights campaigners in the country have since then
\ndemanded an end to capital punishment.<\/p>\n
Chaubey was caught in 1994 in Medan, North Sumatra when he was
\ntrying to smuggle 12 kilograms of heroin into the country. The
\nMedan District Court sentenced him to death in 1995.<\/p>\n
His appeal was then rejected by both the Medan High Court and
\nthe Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Kemas said he did not know when the execution would be
\nconducted as prosecutors must first settle administrative
\nmatters. He added the government must fulfill the convict's last
\nrequest, which has not been submitted.<\/p>\n
"What if he wants to go to India to see his hometown for the
\nlast time? It will take a few weeks before we can execute him,
\nbut we will do it as soon as possible," said Kemas.<\/p>\n
Earlier that day, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar
\nsaid he had prepared a firing squad to conduct the execution.<\/p>\n
"I have talked with the attorney general and he confirmed that
\nat least one convict will be executed soon. That's why we have
\nassigned the firing squad," said Da'i.<\/p>\n
He said the execution of a convicted drug dealer would serve
\nas a deterrent and renew the country's commitment to the
\nelimination of drug trafficking ahead of the International Day
\nAgainst Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26.<\/p>\n
According to Law No. 22\/1997 on narcotics and Law No. 5\/1997
\non psychotropic substances, a violation carries the maximum
\npunishment of death.<\/p>\n
The country's legal system allows a convict to appeal twice
\nand seek clemency and a case review, a process that often takes
\nseveral years.<\/p>\n
Kemas said at least four of the 30 convicts on death row would
\nfollow Chaubey because their demand for clemency had been
\nrejected.<\/p>\n
He was referring to death-row convicts such as Meirika
\nFranola, Rani Maharani and Dany Maharwan, whose death sentences
\nwere upheld by the Supreme Court in 2001. Their second request
\nfor clemency was rejected.<\/p>\n
According to a recent survey by the National Narcotics Agency
\nand the University of Indonesia, around 4 percent of Indonesians,
\nor around 9 million people, used drugs in 2003, four times higher
\nthan in the previous year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indian-drug-trafficker-to-be-executed-soon-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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