Press kept from Thai drug convicts<\/p>\n
MEDAN, North Sumatra: The press is being prevented from
\ncovering the daily activities of two Thai citizens awaiting
\nexecution after President Megawati Soekarnoputri refused them
\nclemency.<\/p>\n
An official letter from the Ministry of Justice and Human
\nRights posed at Tanjung Gusta Prison here restricts coverage as
\nthe two Thais await execution.<\/p>\n
Saelow Praset, 62, and Namsong Sirilak, 32, has been on death
\nrow since being convicted in 1994 of attempting to smuggle into
\nthe country 12 kilograms of heroin. Another man convicted in that
\ncase, an Indian citizen, was recently executed.<\/p>\n
Several prison employees who asked not to be identified
\nconfirmed the restrictions. They said both the print and
\nelectronic media were barred from covering the two convicts'
\nactivities without official permission from the local
\nprosecutor's office.<\/p>\n
Sabli Zuardin, chief of the local office of the justice and
\nhuman rights ministry, said the restrictions were issued for the
\ntwo convicts' safety ahead of their execution.<\/p>\n
He declined to say whether a date had been set for the two to
\nface the firing squad.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, Kemas Yahya,
\nsaid recently the executions would take place within 30 days
\nafter the Attorney General's Office received a copy of the
\nPresident's July 9 rejection of the convicts' clemency pleas.
\n--JP<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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